Glory Days
by vaughnloveralwaysandforev
Summary: MIRACLE Jack O'Callahan has a perfect life. The road to the Olympics should be one of the best times of his life. Olympic hockey should be even more rewarding than college hockey, but will an unexpected event put his glory days behind him? NOW COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my first Miracle story, and actually my first story for anything ever, and I finally have decided to post it. Please review and let me know how I can make it better.

Disclaimer: I own Miracle . . . in my dreams. In reality, I don't own it and never will.

A/N 2: I have a lot of the story written or at least planned out, so updates will be frequent.

Chapter 1

July 5, 1979

Jack O'Callahan was sitting at gate 24A at the Boston Logan International Airport. His flight to Colorado was scheduled to leave in an hour. Although Jack was excited to be going with a bunch of his friends to tryout for the Olympic Hockey Team, he wasn't as happy as he should have been. His friends from Boston University, Mike Eruzione and Dave Silk were laughing and having a good time, but Jack was distracted. His thoughts kept turning back to the fight he had with his girlfriend three days ago.

_July 2, 1979 . . . _

"_When were you planning on telling me? Were you going to wait until after you left and then just tell me over the phone? I can't believe you didn't tell me about this!"_

"_Maddie, why can't you be happy for me? This is a huge deal. If I make the team, I'll be in the Olympics. But you don't even care, do you. You're too concerned with yourself."_

"_No, Jack, I'm not. You're the self-centered one. I think it's amazing you have this opportunity but it would have been nice for you to tell me. I didn't need to accidentally find out from Rizzo!"_

"_I was waiting for the right time," Jack countered._

"_Okay, whatever. If you think three days before you leave is a good time, then you obviously don't care much about me."_

"_I do to care about you. I think you would have seen that by now."_

"_I'm not so sure that's true Jack. If you cared, you would have told me earlier. Before we even got together, I was warned about you. People told me I would think you cared until I got hurt. Then I would know it was all for one thing. . . . " Maddie trailed off._

"_People meaning your parents? Come on, Maddie."_

"_My friends too. They all said I would get hurt."_

"_Your friends were just jealous. They couldn't get a guy like me if they paid him."_

"_A guy like you? My friends wouldn't fall for a guy that was using them."_

"_Using you? I can't believe you said that. My God, if I was using you . . . you know I care about you. If I didn't, I would have been gone a while ago."_

"_You know what, I don't care. Go to the tryouts and play in the Olympics. Don't count on me to be waiting here when you get back." With that, Maddie walked out of the room and slammed the door._

Jack really did love Maddie, but he knew he had to break the news that he was leaving for Colorado and may not be home until February gently. Maddie was always a pretty emotional person, but she always tried to hide her real feelings. Jack hated that Maddie would never tell him how she really felt. Now he knew not telling her right away was a big mistake.

Normally, Jack was very careful with his relationship with Maddie, because he didn't want to mess things up. She was more important than any other girlfriend he had before. Maddie changed him into a different person. Before her, Jack was a player and wouldn't commit to long term relationships. He never dated a girl for more than a month at the most, and as soon as he got what he wanted, he got bored and dumped them. Jack was totally different with Maddie, and even after dating her for nine months, he wasn't bored.

Bringing him out of his thoughts, Rizzo asked him what was wrong.

"He's thinking about Maddie," Silky said in a sing song voice.

"Shut up Silk," Jack said angrily. Then he got up. "I'll be back in a minute."

Jack walked over to the pay phones and decided to call her, hoping she'd forgive him. He had never seen Maddie so angry though. Actually, Jack never heard her yell the way she did either. Dialing the number he knew by heart, Jack heard three rings and figured she wasn't home. Just before he was going to hang up, Maddie answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey Maddie, it's me." Jack knew she would recognize his voice.

"Hi. How are you?" Maddie said, lacking any tone for Jack to guess how she felt.

"Okay. I'm at the airport."

"Oh," Maddie said, now sounding sort of disappointed. Maddie was hoping Jack would come and see her before he left. She knew she overreacted during their fight, and she still didn't know why she got so angry. Maddie never meant to make Jack mad at her. After a long pause, Jack spoke up.

"Look. I'm really sorry. I've been such a jerk lately, and I didn't mean to keep this from you. I just didn't want you to get mad at me for leaving, because it might be eight months until I get to see you. But now I can see that it was even worse not telling you. I just want you to be happy for me."

"Jack, I am happy for you. It is so exciting. I mean, my boyfriend might win a gold medal . . . "

"I haven't even made the team yet," Jack reminded her.

"I know, but you will. Which brings me to another point. Do you really think I will stay here and not come to visit you? Even if you can't get home, I can come there." Jack smiled, sensing her smiling at the other end of the line.

"So do you forgive me?"

"Of course. I love you. But I should be the one that needs forgiveness. I'm sorry too. I know these past few days I've been stubborn, and I completely overreacted."

"I'm glad you got mad at me and yelled for once. Most of the time you're too nice."

"I just hate the thought of you being mad at me."

"You hate the thought of anyone being mad at you," Jack pointed out. After all, it was true. Maddie was a people pleaser, which sometimes annoyed Jack. She always tried to be perfect and make everyone else happy, even if it meant she wasn't happy.

"Yeah, I guess," Maddie admitted.

"Well, I'm still glad we had our first fight. Cause you know what that means?" Jack asked hinting around.

"Yeah, but I won't get to see you before you leave and we won't be able to _really_ make up until I come to visit." Jack smiled at Maddie's attempt at subtlety.

"The plane doesn't leave for another forty five minutes . . . " he started. Maddie cut him off.

"Okay, I'll be there in fifteen."

"Maddie, we're not doing anything in the airport."

"I know, but I at least have to see you."

"Okay, I love you."

"Love you too. Bye."

Jack went back to sit with the guys and of course they gave him a hard time.

"OC, who were you on the phone with?" Silky said with a tone that Jack knew all too well. After all, Silky knew who Jack was talking to.

"I think you know," was all he responded with.

"So is everything okay with you two?" Rizzo asked.

"Yeah, she's coming to see us off."

"Oooh, we'd better not let OC out of our sight," Silky said. "He might miss the plane."

"Shut up Silk," Jack said with an annoyed tone.

The three guys played cards to pass the time, and Jack joined in and was now having some fun. Now that everything was okay between him and Maddie, he had no more worries.

Fifteen minutes later, Maddie showed up at the gate and looked around for Jack. Rizzo saw her and waved.

"Maddie's here," Rizzo said.

Jack turned around and got up, running over to her. He picked her up and spun her around, he was smiling, she was squealing with excitement.

"Jack, I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, baby."

"Promise we'll never fight again."

"Well, I don't want to make promises, but I'll try."

They shared a kiss, and ten seconds into it, Silky made another comment.

"Geese, will you two get a room?"

Maddie gave Silky a death stare as her and Jack walk over to him, holding hands.

"Do you want kids when you get older?" Maddie threatened. Rizzo answered for him.

"You know he's just jealous of OC because he doesn't get any regularly."

This made Maddie blush, and Jack and Rizzo laughed. Silky just tried to think of a come back.

A few minutes later, a flight attendant announced that their flight was boarding. Maddie wished everyone luck, and gave Jack a good luck kiss. More like several kisses.

"Now, call me as soon as you find out, okay."

"I will. I love you."

"I love you too, and I'll miss you so much."

"Well, you're just going to have to visit me then."

"Don't worry about that one," Maddie said with a smile.

After Jack and Maddie each said "goodbye" and "I love you" a few more times each and gave each other a few more kisses, he got on the plane.

"Wow, you're turning into a mushy sap more by the day around that girl," Silky commented. Jack ignored Silky's comment and changed the subject, though knowing Silky was right.

"Colorado, here we come," Jack said as the three friends boarded the plane, ready to tryout for the Olympic Hockey Team. They all knew making the team would be a dream come true. If they made it, they knew there would be tough work ahead, but they also thought the next seven months could be the best times of their lives.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews. I'm glad you guys like my story so far. I wasn't going to post this until Friday, but after I got the great reviews, I couldn't wait to give you guys more. I hope everyone likes this chapter too, let me know what you think.

Chapter 2

July 6, 1979

The next morning Jack, Rizzo, and Silky went to the arena for tryouts. At least three hundred people were there. The three guys checked in and got ready to play. Jack saw a lot of guys from Boston University, and he also recognized many faces from teams he had played against over the years. Unfortunately, one of these teams was the University of Minnesota.

_Well hopefully the coaches will see that they suck and cut them. There isn't a need for those hicks on the team, _Jack thought. At first, Jack thought that since he got a personal invitation to tryout, there wouldn't be more than seventy guys there, and getting a spot on the team wouldn't be that difficult. Now Jack knew he was totally wrong. Apparently, three hundred guys got invitations and this was a much bigger deal than he thought.

As he played, Jack tried to watch other guys too. From the looks of it, he was one of the best there. But Jack always thought he was one of the best. Getting consumed in these thoughts, Jack didn't even see the open man on the breakout. Someone Jack didn't know was playing defense opposite him, and skating with a forward who had the puck. The guy passed the puck across the ice to the open man Jack should have seen. He one-timed it, knowing Jack wasn't in position to block the shot. Jimmy Craig was in goal behind Jack and the puck went right over his glove.

"Damn it!" Jack said to himself, hitting his stick in the ground. _I can't believe I just let the guy have it._

The guy turned around and Jack noticed the name on the back of his jersey. It read McClanahan.

"Damn it," Jack said again. Now he was really pissed. Of all people to score with Jack defending, it had to be him. _Now, I not only made myself look like an idiot, but I made that pansy look good._

After skating and playing hard for a few hours, the guys were called off the ice. Waiting for Craig Patrick to announce the first cut was very nerve raking. It was even worse when Jack found out that the team was basically made already. Tryouts were supposed to last the whole week, but Herb Brooks already had twenty-six names. Was he insane?

Jack sat in the stands, waiting for his name to be called. He wasn't even paying much attention to the other names, just waiting for his own.

"Christoff, Morrow, Suter..."

_I hope he didn't see that stupid mistake I made earlier, _Jack thought. Thoughts like this were running through everyone's heads too as they all waited, hopefully, to hear their name.

"Pavelich, Verchota, Baker..."

_Come on, read them faster. I can't take this much longer_, thought Jack impatiently.

"O'Callahan..."

_What? He just called my name, I made it__ཀ __I made it__ཀ _Jack smiled, with the reality setting in. He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he didn't hear anything else Craig said. A voice from behind him snapped Jack out of his thoughts.

"Take a good look, gentlemen, cause they're the ones getting off easy." It was Herb, and Jack didn't think he seemed too friendly. After a few more words of "encouragement," or whatever they were to Herb, Jack was wondering what he had gotten himself into.

These thoughts immediately vanished as the team was dismissed and everyone began congratulating each other.

"Hey OC, we made it!" Rizzo excitedly said.

"Yeah, this is great. I can't believe we're on the U.S. Olympic team."

"Let's go celebrate."

"I heard some guys talking about some bar, McGuire's, or something," Jack said, remembering what he had heard in the locker room earlier.

"Sounds good. See you later."

On Jack's way out, he picked up the "homework" Herb wanted them to do. It was a thick packet with numbered questions throughout it. Flipping through it, Jack realized it was some sort of two-hundred question psychology test.

_What the hell,_ he thought. _What is wrong with this guy? A test, for hockey. Herb Brooks is definitely weird._

After Jack got his equipment from the locker room, he went to find a pay phone. Jack couldn't wait to tell Maddie the news. She picked up on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey baby."

"Jack! How are you? How were tryouts? Did you make the first cut?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. One question at a time."

"Okay, okay. Did you make it?"

"Well, the tryouts were tiring and it was quite a work out. They were also cut short. Instead of being a week like they were supposed to be, they were just today. The first cut is the only cut, at least for a while and -"

"Just spit it out already. Did you make it?" Jack wanted to torture her a little more, but she was so excited that he couldn't wait any longer. He pulled the phone away from his ear and just left his mouth near the mouthpiece.

"Yeah, I made -"

Maddie cut him off squealing so loudly that people standing near Jack in the hallway looked over to see what was going on. As Maddie said, "Oh my God, I'm so happy for you, I knew you would make it" Jack mouthed, "I just told my girlfriend," to the guys looking at him.

They all nodded and knew then what was going on, and went back to what they were doing before.

"Well, I'm glad you're happy. I am too."

"Who else made it?"

"Rizzo and Silky both made it, and Jim Craig did too. Remember him?"

"Of course I remember Jimmy. Make sure you tell everyone congratulations for me."

"I will."

"Anyone else I would know?"

"Ralph Cox made it. He went to UNH."

"I don't really remember him."

"Robbie McClanahan made it too, and a bunch of other people from Minnesota." Jack said this with a grimace, which Maddie immediately noticed.

"Jack, just play your game. Don't worry about those guys."

"He's such a jerk Maddie. I really can't stand him."

"Just don't do anything stupid. You don't want to get kicked off the team for something stupid. You really need to let it go."

"It's hard to let it go, Maddie. And today, he made me look like an idiot."

"Was it his fault or yours?" Jack was silent for a minute, before he honestly answered.

"Fine. It was mine. But still, I can't stand him."

"I know letting it go is hard for a tough guy like you, but for your on sake, move on. Please."

"Once I take care of things soon, I won't have to think about it," Jack mumbled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Maddie asked, but the truth was, Jack himself didn't really know what it meant. He knew he had to get back at Robbie once and for all, but he hadn't thought about how yet.

"Nothing. I promise I'll be careful," Jack assured her, though Maddie wasn't sure that she completely believed him. After a long pause, Maddie changed the subject.

"So, what's the big celebration plan for tonight?"

"We're just going to some bar. We also have to take this test with at least two hundred questions. It's like a psychology test or something."

"Sounds like fun," Maddie said sarcastically.

"Yeah, I'm sure it will be," Jack replied dryly. "It'd be better if you were here," Jack added, hinting around.

"I promise I'll visit you soon."

"You better."

"Have fun tonight."

"I will."

"And Jack, don't talk to any girls unless their boyfriends are on the team okay. I don't want any girl trying to go after my guy."

"Okay, I'll chat up all the girls with boyfriends on the team then," Jack joked.

"Very funny Jack," Maddie said sarcastically. "But when I come to visit, there better not be a girl that stole your heart."

"Not possible, baby. I love you too much."

"Love you too, talk to you soon."

Jack hung up the phone and went to find his friends.

Maddie's house in Boston . . .

After Maddie hung up with Jack, her father walked into the living room where she was sitting.

"Who was that?" her father asked.

"George Washington," she answered sarcastically. Maddie knew that her dad knew she was talking to Jack. He just wanted to start with her again.

"Madison."

"Oooh, full name."

"Stop it. You're acting like a child."

"You're treating me like a child," she countered. "You don't have to start every time I talk to, or mention, Jack. I'm twenty-one years old, and I can date whoever I want."

"Well, no matter how old you are, you're still my daughter and I can give you advice."

"Doesn't mean I'm going to listen."

"Maddie, that boy -"

"Jack," Maddie interrupted.

"Is not the type of guy you want, and -"

"Dad, you barely know him."

"I know enough."

"Fine. Thanks for the advice dad. I appreciate you trying control my life." Maddie walked up the stairs to her room, not wanting to talk to her dad anymore.

It was no secret that her parents didn't like Jack very much. Maddie could take a guess why. She used always do what her parents wanted and rarely got into trouble. After she met Jack, Maddie stopped caring what her parents thought. It didn't matter to her anymore if they disapproved of something she did. Her parents both thought Jack was the reason Maddie started acting that way, and he was, but it wasn't a bad thing. Jack really helped Maddie realize that it didn't matter what other people thought. Although she still had trouble with that at times, as far as her parents were concerned, she didn't care at all what they thought.

Maddie shut her door and decided to visit Jack sooner rather than later. Maybe she could even stay the whole summer, if she could afford a room that long. She pulled out her calender to find a date she could leave. That's when she noticed the date. July 6. _Oh my God, no. It can't be. July 6? This is really bad,_ she thought. Maddie looked up at the month again, hoping she was looking at the wrong page. She wasn't. _What am I going to do? _she thought, worried.

A/N: Well, my first cliffhanger. You probably all hate me now, lol. I'm sorry to say that the next chapter probably won't be up until Tuesday. Please review to let me know how it was.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thank you all so much for the great reviews! Sorry I couldn't get this up sooner. I tried, but I was very busy this past weekend and yesterday the document wouldn't upload.

krazioapluvnreject: I'm glad you liked it and thanks for the review.

Meadow567: I guess you'll have to wait and see on all of that stuff. You won't find out what July 6th is this chapter though. Sorry. Thanks for the review.

Emador: Yeah, reviews are very addicting. And thanks for that little tidbit of information about the tryouts, I didn't know that. I'm you like it so far and thanks for the review.

Nelliebly413672: I'm glad you like Maddie. You'll find out about July 6th soon enough. Thanks for the review.

Flowers761: I don't know, what are you thinking, lol? I'm glad you like it so far and thanks for the reivew.

Okay, on with the chapter and again I don't own anything.

Chapter 3

A little after seven that night, Jack arrived at the bar. He sat at a table with Silky, Rizzo, and Coxie. The division between the team was obvious. East coasters were on one side, and the Midwest guys were on the other. Most of the guys were intent on keeping it that way, especially Jack. The Boston guys were trying to finish the test Herb was making them take. Silky was complaining about taking it, and no one really understood the point to Herb making them take the ridiculous test.

Even though Jack wasn't thrilled to be answering psychology questions when he should be celebrating, he was having a decent time. That is until Robbie walked in. Actually, Robbie's presence wasn't the entire reason Jack decided to leave. It was because Robbie said hi to Rizzo and acted like the two were friends or something. Making it worse, Rizzo began talking like he was on Mac's side. Rizzo assured Jack that he wasn't, but before Jack said or did something he knew he would later regret, he just got up and left.

When Jack arrived back at his hotel room, he decided to call his family. He knew his parents would be thrilled with the news. His sister, Erin, answered the phone.

"Hey Air. Guess what?"

"You made the team?"

"Yep."

"That's great! I'm really happy for you." Jack could hear her talking to someone in the background. "Yeah, he made the team." He then heard clapping and cheering, presumably from his parents, and mostly his mom.

"I'm gonna give you to mom now," Erin said, although he could barely hear her over the background noise.

"Jack, I'm so happy for youཀ"

"Thanks mom."

"I can't wait to see you play. Will you play in Boston at all?"

"I don't know, mom, the tryouts were today after all. I don't even know everyone's names yet, let alone when the pre-Olympic tour starts and who we're playing."

"Well, let me know once you find out. I can't wait to see you play. My baby's going to be in the Olympics!" she said excitedly.

Jack reminded his mother that it was really only the first cut, even though he knew his chances were very good. His mom dismissed it. She knew he would remain on the team. Jack talked to his dad next, followed by Erin again. She couldn't wait to tell her friends. Jack knew Erin looked up to him, even if she rarely showed it. Just like Jack, Erin was very stubborn and had a bad temper. Their parents would always tease the two, saying that they were twins born five years apart.

By the time Jack got off the phone with his family, it was getting late. He turned on ESPN for a while and then went to bed, thinking about how he would get Robbie back and teach him a lesson. Jack remembered Maddie's warning but thought, _He needs to get what he deserves._

One week later . . . July 13, 1979

A week later, the guys were all in Minnesota, ready to begin practice. Jack decided to settle things between him and Mac once and for all and hit him hard. He felt really good about taking Mac out, but Herb however, was far from happy with their behavior. Jack didn't worry too much about Herb's reaction, because it was out of his system and Jack knew it wouldn't happen again. Of course, Jack still didn't plan on becoming friends with Mac anytime soon.

That night, Rizzo made spaghetti and meatballs for the team. His specialty. Well, Jack thought it was far from a specialty, but it was his only option. If he didn't eat Rizzo's food, he'd starve because he was far too lazy to make his own dinner.

"So Jack, have you talk to Maddie at all since we've got here?" Rizzo asked him.

"Rizz-oh," Silky groaned. "Why did you have to bring that up? You know the answer is three times a day - at least." Jack hit Silky, wanting him to shut up.

"It's more like once a day," Jack said in defense.

"Who's Maddie?" asked Bah, who was sitting nearby.

"My girlfriend."

"You have a girlfriend?" Verchota asked, clearly shocked.

"Yes, I have a girlfriend," Jack answered. It was with a tone like, 'Why wouldn't I?'

"You don't seem like the type to have a girlfriend," Verchota commented.

"Maybe she's just the lucky one that got the week before Jack left. Jack probably has a policy like I've heard you have," Bah directed toward Verchota. "You have to date them at least a week, or sleep with them eight times, whichever comes first. Normally, that system works in Jack's favor and he only has to date the girl a few days, but since he left, he probably still owes her one or something."

A few guys nearby laughed, and Verchota tried to defend his "system."

"That's not how it works, Bah. If the girl is cute enough, I'll date them even after a week is up."

"And how many girls actually want to stay with you more than a week?" Buzz asked.

"Well, unfortunately, I can count them on one hand." Everyone laughed at Verchota and he added, "But now, with my status on the Olympic team, I'm sure the ladies will see things differently."

"Yeah right Verchota," someone said, laughing harder.

"So back to this girlfriend of yours OC," Bah said. "Is she part of a system like that?"

"Definitely not. Maddie's nothing like that. We're like, perfect for each other."

The guys in the room looked at Jack like he had two heads. Everyone was speechless.

"Wow, Jack O'Callahan has a sensitive side," Robbie dared to comment. Jack ignored him.

"Is she hot?" Verchota asked, with a smile and very readable expression on his face.

"Verchota," started Bah, as if warning him.

"Don't think about it," Jack said seriously. "You so much as lay a finger on her, and you're dead." Verchota put up his arms in defense.

"Whoa, easy Jack. I'm not going to try anything with your girlfriend. I was just

joking."

"Is she coming here to visit?" Robbie asked.

"Yeah," Jack said, trying not to say more than he needed to. Robbie took the hint and stopped talking to him.

"So, you never said whether she was hot," continued Verchota.

"Do you have a one-track mind?" interjected Bah.

"No three," Buzz said, then explained. "In addition to hot girls, he also thinks about beer and sex."

"What does she look like?" Bah asked Jack.

"She had straight, brown hair, green eyes, and she's average height."

"Sounds hot," Verchota commented.

"She is," answered Jack. Silky, Rizzo, and Jimmy looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"She's pretty," Silky cut in. "She's not as hot as OC makes her out to be, he's just biased."

"Well, when you first met her, did you picture yourself sleeping with her?" Verchota asked Silky.

"They never dated," OC said.

"I just meant, would he have if he had the chance?" Verchota continued.

"I had the chance. Maddie was single for a while. I would have never dated her though. Definitely not my type. She's an okay friend, but that's it."

"Yeah, and if I recall, at first you tried to tell me she wasn't my type either," Jack said.

"I didn't think she was. And I stand corrected."

It was no secret that Silky didn't always like Maddie. He thought she was a good person, and an okay friend, but he never thought OC should date her. Once Jack and Maddie started dating, Silky did everything in his power to make Jack realize that he was wasting his time with Maddie. Luckily, Silky and Jack didn't see things eye to eye. Jack ignored Silky and continued dating Maddie. A few months later, Silky finally came around, and realized that maybe Maddie was a good girlfriend for Jack. Now, Silky didn't have to fight with Jack for the girls.

"So anyway," Buzz started, desperately wanting to change the topic of conversation away from Maddie.

"So since we're talking about our girlfriends and stuff, how's married life Buzz?" Jannie asked.

"Great. Well, other than the fact that I'm expected to sleep in the dorms and she's living in our apartment. It's kind of hard to act like newlyweds when we don't sleep together every night."

"Woah, that was an over share," Silky said.

"Well, lucky for me, Mac is my roommate and he likes Gail."

"That doesn't mean I want to witness newlywed things going on," he said dryly while the other guys laughed.

"Some night, everyone should bring their girlfriends, or wife, in my case, out to a bar or some place with the team. That way, the girls can all get to know each other and have some company when we're on the road."

"Good idea, except not many of us even have girlfriends. And most of us that do, won't be dating them throughout the Olympics," Jannie said.

"Well, everyone that does have a girlfriend then."

"I think that's just you, me, and OC at the time being," Mac said.

"Then I guess it's not such a good idea," Buzz said, thinking about how Mac and OC don't get along.

"Hey, by the way," Verchota started, getting everyone's attention. He hadn't even been contributing at all to the previous conversation, and out of the blue he started again. "Jack, does Maddie have a sister?"

"Oh my God, Philly, shut up!" Buzz said.

"I'm just wondering."

"Yeah, but you're not dating her. She's like, sixteen."

"That's okay. Is she as hot as Maddie?"

"You've never even seen a picture of Maddie," Bah pointed out.

"So, she sounds hot."

"Rachel looks a lot like Maddie in some ways, but personally, I don't think she's as pretty."

"Well, you can't think she's as pretty. You're dating Maddie. I however, can think she's as pretty," Jimmy said.

"Oh, does someone have a little crush?" Buzz asked Jimmy.

"No," he said, his face turning slightly red.

"Oooh, Jimmy likes Maddie's sister," Verchota said. "Well, I guess that means she's off limits too."

"She would be off limits to you even if Jimmy didn't like her," Jack said. Mac chose this moment to speak up, and directed his comment to Jack.

"So, I still don't get it. You keep saying Maddie's hot and you told us what she looks like, but honestly, what's so special about her? I know plenty of girls that look just the way you described Maddie." Jack didn't look too happy hearing Mac's comment. The other guys waited to see Jack's response. Was Mac really trying to start another fight?

"What the hell is your problem, Mac? You just have to push me, don't you. Can't you just let it go?"

"Let it go? _You_ want _me _to let it go? What about you? As I recall, you're the one who wouldn't drop it. I let it go. I let it go back in '76!"

"That's not what I'm talking about! I got over that too. Right after I kicked your ass. I'm talking about letting go the fact that you can't take a punch - and you don't fight back very well either."

"That's it! I've had it with you," Mac said, ready the charge Jack. The guys around them, who had been watching this unfold, grabbed Mac and held him back. OC turned away and left the room.

It took Mac a few minutes to cool down after Jack left. He didn't mean to start anything with Jack again. Earlier that night, Mac was actually trying to talk to Jack. He only made the comment he did because Jack was still being a jerk. _If me and OC don't turn things around, it's going to be a long seven months._

After Jack got to his room, he started thinking about how stupid he was being. Jack knew Mac had only asked him that to see how he would react. If Jack just ignored him, or answered the question, Mac would have probably dropped it. From now on, Jack was determined to not start anything else between him and Mac, and if avoiding Mac was the only option, it was better than nothing. _If we can't start at least being civil toward each other, it's going to be a long seven months, _Jack thought.

A/N: Coming up next . . . Maddie comes to Minnesota! It will be up by Thursday, but maybe sooner. I love reviews and they really inspire me to get the chapters up faster, wink, wink.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thank you everyone so much for the great reviews! I hope you guys like this chapter. I'm impressed with how fast I got it up.

Flowers761: Yeah, Maddie might help a little. You'll see it kind of in this chapter. Funny about the coasters. I saw your review and read that part over again, and I started laughing too. Thanks for the review.

Emador: I'm glad you liked the chapter and thanks for the review. I hope I got this up quick enough for you, lol.

krazioapluvnreject: I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for reviewing.

Nelliebly413672: Yeah, Verchota's system. He would be the guy on the team that I would imagine to have a system like this, lol. I'm glad you liked the part about Gail. Later on, she'll be in the story a little more. Thanks for the review.

Meadow567: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. I hate writing out the dialogue that actually occurred in the movie, because everyone already knows it, and some people, like me, know it word for word. Those people don't need to read the same thing in every story.

Lien-Wan: Thanks for the review and I'm glad you liked it.

Chapter 4

July 16, 1979

Maddie woke up early the next Saturday morning. Her flight to Minnesota was scheduled to leave at noon, but she still had some packing to do. After talking to Jack earlier that week, she found out he was settled in Minnesota. After Maddie's flight landed, she called a cab and went to the University's athletic complex. Before she found Jack though, Maddie needed to find Herb Brooks.

She knew the team practice was over because Jack told her that he would call sometime after he finished at three. Maddie didn't tell him she was coming because she wanted it to be a surprise. If all went well, Maddie would also have a job. An athletic trainer at Boston University had told Maddie about an internship opportunity with the team under the team doctor. She called Herb Brooks as soon as she found out, and he told her to come in for an interview.

Maddie had completed three years of her athletic training degree program, and the internship would count for her last year of school. Just as she suspected, Herb was in his office. Maddie knocked on the open door, and Herb looked up.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Hi, I'm Madison Reynolds. I spoke to you on the phone about the athletic training internship."

"Hi Madison. Come on in and have a seat. You can call me Herb."

"I have a resume," Maddie said handing it to him before she sat down.

He looked it over and immediately said, "This looks very good, Madison."

"Thank you. And you can call me Maddie."

"Scott Jennings says you're a very motivated, responsible student. He recommended you for this position," Herb said. Maddie didn't really know how to respond. Luckily, Herb continued before she had to."Do you know any of the guys on the team from Boston?"

"Yes, I do actually." She listed the guys she knew, leaving Jack for last. "I also know Jack O'Callahan. He's my boyfriend," Maddie said, saying the last part quickly. She didn't know how Herb would take that piece of information, but she hoped it wouldn't ruin her chances.

"He's a very good hockey player."

"Yes, he is."

"Does he know you're here for the job?"

"No. I didn't want to tell him and get his hopes up."

"How long have the two of you been together?"

"Nine months."

"I'm sorry to be asking personal questions, but my only concern is whether the relationship will be a problem."

"Oh, I would take this as seriously as any job and I wouldn't let that stand in the way. I would be totally professional."

"You're actually not my biggest concern. I would expect you to be professional. If it was a problem, I could let you go easily. It's Jack that I wouldn't be fond of letting go. I don't want his game to change. Unless of course it's for the better."

Herb paused for a minute, and Maddie didn't know what he was thinking. He was really hard to read.

"I suppose we could give it a try," he said finally. "Normally I would be against romantic entanglements between my staff and players, and I don't want you to think I'm making an exception for you. It's just that you're the most qualified for the job out of everyone I've interviewed. To prove that you're involvement with O'Callahan won't get in the way though, you're going to have to work twice as hard as the rest of the staff. However, the minute O'Callahan's game starts to suffer, I'll have to let you go."

Maddie could tell that Herb was very serious, which is what she expected. _Note to self, _she thought. _Don't do anything to upset Herb Brooks. He is probably a very scary man when angry. He's already pretty intimidating now._

"Thank you so much, you won't be disappointed," Maddie assured him.

"You can report here tomorrow morning before practice. Come at 9:00 and we'll talk more then. For now, you're free to go. Just let me get you a room key."

Herb pulled out a small envelope from his desk drawer and handed it to Maddie. The number 215 was written on it.

"This is the key to your dorm room. The University is providing rooms for the team, with you included. You will also be traveling with us to away games. I assume that won't be a problem?"

"No, not at all. Thank you." Maddie put the envelope in her pocket and left to find the locker room. She couldn't wait to see Jack. Waiting outside the door, she wished Jack would hurry up. The door opened, and someone she didn't recognize walked out.

"Hey," he said, acknowledging her presence.

"Hey," she said back. He looked at her for a minute, not moving to leave.

"Are you waiting for someone?" he finally asked.

"Um, yeah, is Jack O'Callahan still in there?"

"Yeah, do you want me to go get him?"

"No that's okay. I'll just wait." The guy looked at her sort of funny.

"What did you say your name was?"

"I actually didn't, but it's Maddie." Realization dawned on the guy's face.

"Oooh, so you're the wonderful girlfriend."

"Yeah." Maddie was a little confused as to how the guy would know of her. He noticed her look of confusion and then explained.

"OC talks about you all the time. It's like everything anyone says, he can tie you into the conversation, somehow."

"Oh," Maddie said, blushing slightly.

"It's true. He really loves you. And I guess he really wasn't lying when he said you're beautiful."

Maddie blushed again.

"I'm Robbie McClanahan by the way. Most people call me Mac though."

"You're Robbie McClanahan?" Maddie was shocked. He seemed so - nice. Jack made him out to be terrible.

"Yeah. And from the look on your face, I take it you haven't heard good things about me."

"Nope, can't say I have."

They both laughed and the door opened again. More guys came out. Still no Jack.

"Maddie? What are you doing here?"

"Rizzoཀ" Maddie reached up to give him a hug and he lifted her off the ground a little.

"When did you get here? Jack didn't tell me you were coming."

"It's a surprise. He doesn't know yet."

"He's gonna be so happy. All he does is talk about you and how he misses you. It's getting annoying. The other guys will be glad to meet you too. They hear so much about you every day that they probably already know your life story."

"I hope it's all good," Maddie said joking. She knew it couldn't all be good.

"It is. He hasn't said a bad thing about you. So are you waiting for him here?"

"Yeah, I don't know where his room is."

"I'm rooming with him. I could let you in the room."

"Really? Would you?"

"Sure. Let's go."

They walked to Jack and Rizzo's room, and Rizzo opened the door and letting Maddie in. "I'm going to go out for a little while and let you two catch up."

"Are you sure? You can stick around."

"No thanks. I really don't need to see the reunion." With this, they both laughed and Rizzo left the room, shutting the door.

Maddie sat on the bed for a while, waiting for Jack to come back. She looked through the picture album on the desk next to his bed. For their six-month anniversary, Maddie decorated an album with pictures of them together. Maddie knew Jack liked it, but she didn't realize he left it out on his night stand where everyone else could see it. There were pictures from Christmas, New Year's, Maddie's twenty-first birthday, Jack's graduation, and when they went to the beach in Cape Cod. There were also a lot of pictures from before they were dating. Jack and Maddie had known each other almost all through college, meeting through the hockey team. Maddie had a part time job in the athletic training office, where she started out as a secretary, doing paperwork. One day Jack came in because he needed his ankle taped. He had twisted it two weeks before and it was still a little sore.

_January 1977_

"_Hi. Can I help you?" Maddie asked the cute guy standing in front of her desk._

"_Uh, yeah. I need my ankle taped for practice."_

"_Okay, Scott should be back in a few minutes to do that for you."_

"_Can't you do it?"_

"_I'm not really supposed to. I only do paperwork and really minor things."_

"_Ankle taping is pretty minor. Do you know how?"_

"_Yeah, I just - "_

"_Please? I want to get to practice soon." _

_Maddie smiled at his childishness. 'God, he sounds like a two-year-old when he whines like that,' Maddie thought. 'But his smile definitely makes up for it.' Maddie found herself having a hard time saying no. She was afraid of getting in trouble, but the guy's instant charm and good looks were making her cave. Maddie finally gave in._

"_Okay. But you can't tell anyone."_

"_I won't. I swear." He smiled and gave her the scout's honor sign and sat down on the table with his leg out. Maddie smiled back. His smile was contagious._

"_So, what do you play?" Maddie asked as she wrapped his ankle in pre-wrap._

"_Hockey."_

"_Oh. I should have guessed."_

"_Why?"_

"_Because you look like a hockey player."_

"_Am I that cute or something?" he said this with a cocky smile, one that Maddie would soon grow to love._

"_I don't know," she responded, blushing. She did think he was cute. "You're just . . . I mean, you appear to be the hockey playing type."_

"_Is that good? The hockey playing type, I mean."_

"_Yeah. Hockey's awesome."_

"_A girl, that thinks hockey's awesome? Will you marry me?" Jack joked. "I rarely hear girls say that hockey is awesome."_

"_Well, it is."_

_They talked for a few more minutes and when Maddie was done taping, Jack went to practice. For the rest of the night, Maddie was finding it hard to focus on her work. The guy that she met earlier was very cute, and Maddie was under the impression that he was flirting a little bit. 'Maddie, stop it and concentrate. You know he probably flirts with every girl. He just wanted his ankle taped and knew adding his charm would get what he wanted.'_

_A little while later, Maddie was getting ready to leave and someone stood at her desk, waiting for her to look up. She finally did and saw the guy from before waiting there._

"_So do you ever get to leave?" he asked. Hearing him speak, everything Maddie promised herself before about not falling for his charm again went out the window._

"_Eventually. I was actually just going to now. Did you need something?" Maddie couldn't help asking._

"_I actually did. But you're leaving so never mind."_

"_No, I can help. What do you need?" Maddie added in thought, 'If I can help you, I'll stay here all night.'_

"_Well, since you did such a good job with taping my ankle, I was wondering if you could do something else."_

"_Sorry, but I can't tape your ankle again. If Scott or any of the other certified trainers found out, I'd lose this job and any hopes of becoming a trainer." Maddie was happy with her ability to tell him no, though it killed her at the same time._

"_It's not to tape my ankle."_

"_What is it then?"_

"_Well, practice was really rough today and my back and shoulders are really sore. I was wondering if massages were part of the minor things you could do?" The guy said casually, like it was the most normal thing he could have asked for._

"_You want me to give you a massage?"_

"_Yeah, could you? I could really use it."_

"_I would but I have to close the office here. Sorry." Maddie genuinely meant it too. Any day a guy like that asked for a massage, she would drop everything. 'He probably would take his shirt off too,' she thought._

"_No problem. I have a dorm room you know. You could do it there," he said, again really casually, like it was no big deal at all._

"_Um . . . " Maddie did really want to go, but suddenly she didn't know if it was such a good idea. Going to his room, and she barely even knew him. Hell, she didn't even know his name._

"_Look. I know what you're probably thinking. But I really just need a massage. My roommate, Rizzo, is going to be there. Please?"_

"_Okay, I guess. It's just that I don't even know your name."_

"_Jack O'Callahan."_

"_Oh my God, you're Jack O'Callahan?__ཀ" __Maddie said with surprise._

"_Last time I checked."_

"_I know who you are now. I would have known you played hockey too, if you told me your name before."_

"_I take it you're part of my fan club then?"_

"_Yeah. I love watching the games. You're really good."_

"_Thanks. You must go to a lot of games then, to know I'm good. Girls that don't watch hockey only know I'm good in a different department," Jack said, winking with his million-dollar smile. Maddie now desperately tried to think of something to change the subject form where it was headed. _

"_I'm Maddie, by the way."_

"_Nice to meet you," he said smiling as he shook her hand._

Maddie would never forget that day. Jack was the cockiest person she ever met, with the biggest ego, but there was also something about him that she absolutely loved. As she finished looking through the picture album she put it down, Maddie heard a knock at the door.

"Hey Rizzo, I forgot my key. Let me in," Jack said from the other side. Maddie slowly walked over to the door, waiting for him to say something else. Now he started pounding.

"Rizzo, open up now. Come on. I know you're in there." Maddie waited again, hearing him get frustrated.

"Rizzo, get your ass to this door right nowཀ"

Maddie decided it was time to open the door. Right before she did though, she said, "First you need to stop yelling at me, or else you won't be getting any." As she said these last words, she opened the door, smiling as Jack grabbed her, picked her up, and hugged her. After he put her down, he kissed her hungrily.

Once they pulled away, Maddie said, "So I take it you missed me?"

"Yeah. I haven't been able to stop thinking about you. But what are you doing here? I mean when, how . . . why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise."

"Well, this is the best surprise everཀ"

As they were talking, Mac walked up to the open door.

"Hey, Maddie. So you finally found him."

"Yeah, he finally got back here."

"Hey OC."

"Hey Mac." There was an awkward silence after that, no one really knew what to say.

"So . . . " Maddie said, trying to start conversation.

"Uh, yeah. Are you gonna come to the bar with us tonight, OC?" Mac asked.

"Uh, I don't know," he looked at Maddie, silently asking if she wanted to.

"Of course, Maddie can come too," Mac said.

"Do you two know each other or something?" Jack asked, wondering if he had missed something.

"We just met earlier today," Maddie said.

"Oh ok. So did you want to go, or just stay here? Either way, I don't care."

"Let's go."

"Are you sure? How long are you here for?"

"Well, until the Olympics are over or your game gets bad."

"What?" Jack and Robbie both asked in unison.

"I'm helping Doc out with the athletic training. I'm interning with the team until the Olympics are over. My parents weren't thrilled, but - "

"You are?So, you're staying here with me?"

"Well, I get my own room, but yeah I am." Jack hugged her, obviously happy.

"This is great. Now I only have to miss you when I'm at practice."

"Yeah, I know. And you won't have to annoy anyone else talking about me either."

"What?"

"Rizzo told me that you tell everyone about me. Even Robbie knew who I was." Jack looked over at Robbie, now remembering he was in the room.

"Oh."

"And I'm guessing you guys don't talk much, so you must talk about me quite a bit."

"He does," Robbie added in.

"Okay, okay, let's not make me into some sort of mushy sap that talks about my girlfriend constantly."

"But you are," Robbie said, and Maddie laughed. This earned Robbie a little shove.

"Okay enough," Jack said smiling.

As soon as Robbie and Jack realized they were along the lines of getting along, they immediately stopped and turned on their tough guy side.

"I gotta go," Mac said, leaving the room.

"Later," Jack said, shutting the door behind him.

"Now it's just us for a while," Maddie said wrapping her arms around Jack's waist, hugging him from behind. Jack then turned around in her arms to face her.

"Yeah, Rizzo won't be back for a while and the guys are meeting at the bar at 7:00, so we have about three hours to do whatever we want," he said in a husky, suggestive tone.

"Four hours isn't that long considering we were apart for a couple weeks. Plus, we never got to really make up after our fight. We better get busy." Jack smiled and they began kissing, losing their clothes in a matter of minutes.

A/N: So, did you like it? I have more flashbacks in future chapters, so let me know if you like them or not. Next chapter will probably be up Monday.


	5. Chapter 5

Flowers761: I'm glad I made you laugh, thanks for the review.

Meadow567: Thanks for the review and don't worry. I could never do that to OC - I love him too much. Rob was just being nice/sorta flirty. He has a girlfriend though, and she'll be in some chapters later.

Nelliebly413672: I'm glad you like Maddie and OC. Rob has a girlfriend that will be in the story later. Thanks for the review.

Emador: Thank you so much for your review. I wasn't really sure about the flashbacks. I really appreciate your input. I have another this chapter, and it is still sort of long. It was written before I wrote the last chapter, and I liked a lot of it too much to take out. (That happens sometimes, oh well.) I took some out though. After this chapter, there's not really any flashbacks, and if there are, I'm going to make them really short. Thanks again for the review.

A/N: So, here's another chapter. I don't really like this one that much, but I was having trouble changing it more than I already did. The end is mainly flashback. First, it starts off with Jack just thinking about earlier, then I have the flashback. The part that I don't like is the first part when Jack is thinking back, but I needed that in order to make the flashback fit and make sense. Oh well, I'm rambling. Just read it. You'll see what I mean.

Chapter 5

Jack and Maddie were the last to arrive at the bar. When they finally walked in, everyone had already found out that Maddie was in town. Most of the guys knew she was staying too. The table in back full of guys, turned and looked at the couple coming in.

"Nice of you to finally make it," Silky said sarcastically.

"Just ask them why they're so late," Jannie teased.

"I bet they were just _busy_," Mac said.

"Yeah, busy in the sheets," Buzz added.

Many other comments were shot at the two, but mainly at Jack, who finally stopped them.

"Look, it's none of your business why we were late, but we're here now, and you all need to be nice to Maddie."

"I can be very nice to Maddie," Verchota said, testing Jack to see his reaction.

"Watch it," Jack replied, giving him a death stare.

Jack sat down, with Maddie next to him, and started talking to some teammates. The guys from Boston greeted her with, "Hey Maddie" and "Good to see you." The guys that didn't know Maddie introduced themselves.

"I feel like I've known you my whole life, even though we just met," one of the guys who introduced himself as Bah said. "In the past two weeks, I've heard everything there is to know about you and then some."

"That's what I've been hearing a lot since I got here."

"I told you Jack doesn't shut up about you," Mac said.

Jack heard this and added in, "I'm not talking about her now am I?"

"If she weren't here you would be," Buzz answered.

Bah began imitating Jack. "Did you guys know that Maddie is in athletic training?"

Coxie played along. "No, OC, you've only told us fifty times."

"Did you know Maddie made me this picture album for our six month?" Bah continued.

"Let me guess - there are pictures of you two together right?" Cox continued.

"Yeah, how did you know? Have I told this one before?"

This time everyone at the table answered "Yesཀ"

This had Maddie laughing uncontrollably and Jack say "Okay, I get it. I went a little over board. Stop rubbing it in."

"I think it's really cute," Maddie said, putting her arm around Jack and kissing his cheek.

"You do?" Jack asked, turning toward her and kissing her on the lips.

"Would you guys get a room already?" Rizzo yelled from the end of the table.

"Well, we could go to your room," Jack shot back.

Everyone laughed again.

"So Maddie, I hear you're staying and helping with the team," Buzz said.

"Yeah, I'm interning with Doc."

"Oh." Most of the guys had unreadable and blank expressions on their faces.

"Guys, please try to contain your excitement," Maddie said sarcastically. "I'm not that bad to be around," she said, then paused before adding, "I thought Jack has said all good things about me."

"Look Maddie, it's nothing against you. You seem nice and all. It's just that, you're a girl." Maddie laughed at this. Buzz sounded like he was in third grade again when girls had cooties.

"Yeah, I'm a girl. And you're the one that's married right?" Maddie asked, hoping she had the right guy. Buzz nodded his head. "She's a girl too, am I right?"

"Yeah, but she's not going to be with the team constantly."

"Yeah, Maddie. If you're around all the time, we won't be able to talk about guy stuff," Jannie said.

"What kind of stuff is that?" Maddie asked, playing dumb.

"Like, I don't know. Stuff. You know . . . about girls and other stuff we talk about."

"You can still talk about girls. After three years of being around the BU teams, I've heard it all. I'm used to hearing and ignoring derogatory comments. Even from Jack," Maddie said, looking over at him. He had been talking to Rizzo and Silky and wasn't really listening until he heard his name.

"What about me?"

"Never mind." Jack turned back to Rizzo and Silky to continue their conversation. Then Maddie continued. "Anyway, your mothers will never find out that everything they taught you about treating girls with respect is being ignored. At least, they won't find out from me."

"Hey, that's not all of us," Mark Johnson protested. "I treat girls with respect."

"Yeah, but I bet the vast majority doesn't."

"You already know us too well," Verchota commented.

"I guess that's a downside to working with guys sports teams. I know how they think way to well."

"We're not that bad," Bah said, referring to him and his teammates.

"Wanna bet?" Maddie asked, raising her eyebrows slightly. "Hey Verchota, look, there's a tall blonde behind you."

Immediately, Verchota and a few other guys turned around to look for the blonde.

"Where? I don't see one," Verchota said confused.

"Told ya," Maddie said to Bah, who started laughing.

"Maddie, where is she?" Verchota asked again.

"Right there, behind you."

"I only see two guys."

"I never said it was a girl."

A few other guys laughed as they finally noticed the tall blonde standing behind them was a guy.

"That wasn't very nice," Verchota said.

"It was funny though," Maddie replied.

When everyone left the bar later that night, Maddie went to Jack's room even though she had her own. They promised Rizzo they would really go to sleep, and wouldn't make him want to leave. Maddie and Jack kept their promise and crawled into bed. Even though it was only a single bed, it wasn't a tight squeeze. Maddie cuddled right next to Jack, facing him, and used his shoulder as a pillow with one arm across his chest. Jack draped his arm across her waist, with his chin right above her head.

Jack was so happy Maddie was finally in Minnesota. He was also thrilled she was staying through the Olympics. _She really is the best thing that's ever happened to me,_ Jack thought. As he tried to fall asleep, he remembered back to the time before they were dating.

Shortly after Jack and Maddie first met, Rizzo used to tell him that Maddie liked him. He also warned Jack that he was leading her on big time, and she would get hurt. Jack dismissed Rizzo's warning, not realizing that Maddie did have a slight crush. Being the player that he was, Jack continued his string of random, meaningless hookups. Maddie realized that Jack would probably never have the same feelings for her, so she stopped waiting around.

Jack still remembered the night he finally realized his feelings. It was the first night Maddie missed a game. She was on a date with her new boyfriend, Derek. Jack had been very jealous. He tried to remind himself that Maddie was just a friend, but it was no use. Jack had fallen for her. Six months later, Maddie and Derek were still dating, and Jack was losing hope that they would ever break up.

A few weeks into Jack's senior year, Silky had a party. Jack invited Maddie, who brought Derek. Maddie and Derek were together the entire night, and Derek was all over her. Jack couldn't stand Derek or seeing them together. Jack never thought Derek respected Maddie, and knew she deserved better.

Jack remembered the stupid fight him and Derek had over NHL teams later that night. For Jack however, the fight wasn't just about hockey. Silky suggested a game of truth or dare, just to stop the argument. It may have sounded like a stupid idea at the time, but it was the reason Jack and Maddie were together today.

_September 1978_

"_Maddie, truth or dare?" Silky asked._

"_Truth."_

"_Bor-ring," said Silky. "Okay then, how far have you gone with Derek?" Maddie's face turned red. "We're waiting," Silky prompted after a minute of silence. Although Jack wanted to know the answer himself, he was a little mad at Silky for putting Maddie on the spot._

"_That's sort of personal," Jack spoke up in Maddie's defense._

"_This whole game is personal. Besides, she picked truth."_

"_Yeah, but maybe she doesn't want to answer."_

"_Well, if she doesn't then I will," started Derek. He wrapped his arm tighter around her. "She doesn't really have anything to be embarrassed about anyway, right Maddie?"_

_This made Maddie turn ever redder._

"_Don't say anything," Jack warned Derek. "She doesn't want everyone to know about your personal relationship."_

"_What's the big deal? Besides, I'm hoping the answer to the question will change after tonight anyway," Derek hinted suggestively while moving one hand up her leg and the other under her shirt. Maddie didn't look like she was enjoying this, and Jack wasn't either. He was really pissed._

'_Who does he think he is trying to feel Maddie up like that? Doesn't he know she hates PDA?' Jack thought._

"_Derek, please stop," Maddie warned him. He didn't stop._

"_Why don't you just quit it, okay!" Jack said, visibly angry._

"_What's your problem with me?" Derek yelled, letting Maddie go._

"_Like you don't know," Jack mumbled to himself._

"_Look, let's have a truce. I'll forget about everything you've said tonight, if you apologize. We'll just move on."_

"_Are you fricken' serious! Apologize? To you? I'd rather kill myself, thank you."_

"_That's real mature Jack. I can't believe you don't want to be friends because we like two different hockey teams!"_

"_You think that's what this is about? You're crazy. The hockey thing just helped me realize how much I don't like you. I've never liked you! We've never been friends will be. Why don't you stop pretending you want to be friends with me? I know you hate me just as much as I hate you, jackass."_

"_Jack! I need to talk to you. Now!" Maddie said, absolutely livid. Maddie stormed out of the room, and Jack followed. They walked to Maddie's room down the hall and went inside. Once Jack was in, she slammed the door and gave him a death stare._

"_What the hell is your problem! You're the jackass. I can't believe the stuff you said to Derek. Come on Jack, why -"_

_Jack stopped her from talking by walking up, grabbing her arms, and kissing her hard. Instead of pulling away, Maddie relaxed and wrapped her arms around his neck, slightly kissing back. After she realized what she was doing, Maddie pulled away._

"_What was that?" Maddie asked, after they broke apart, not sounding angry anymore._

"_I'm sorry," said Jack. "I don't know why I did that . . . " he trailed off._

"_No you're not," Maddie said, smiling slightly. Jack sat on her bed and sighed, rubbing his hands over his face._

"_You just don't get it, do you?"_

"_Get what?" asked Maddie, looking confused._

"_Do you know why I really hate Derek?"_

"_Cause you fight over hockey teams?" she said, in an attempt to lighten the mood._

"_Because he's dating you." Maddie didn't respond. She had no idea what to say. Jack finished. "Look, I'm an idiot. Ever since I've met you, we've been great friends. I didn't realize how I actually felt until he walked into your life," Jack said bitterly._

"_I had no idea . . . " Maddie started, trailing off._

"_I know. I wish I had said something earlier." There was a long pause before Maddie continued._

"_Now I have a problem."_

"_What would that be?" Jack asked, though already knowing the answer._

"_Do I break up with Derek?"_

"_Are you asking me?" Jack said smiling. "If you are, I say yes." Maddie smiled but before she responded, it faded to a frown._

"_Jack, Derek's a great guy. I know you don't think so, but he really is. And you're great too, but both of you are totally different."_

"_You can't honestly say you love him though."_

"_We're not to that point yet Jack," Maddie tried to protest._

"_Don't give me that bull shit Maddie. I see you two together and although you act all close and shit, you're not."_

"_And we'd be closer?" Maddie asked._

"_It'd be real," Jack said, sounding somewhat annoyed._

"_Why do you like me?"_

"_Huh?" Jack said, wondering why Maddie was changing the subject._

"_What would make me different from the other girls you've dated?"_

"_I care about you," he said simply, and that was the only answer Maddie needed._

After nine months, Jack still felt the same way about her. Jack dosed off, thinking about how perfect his life was with Maddie in it, and how nothing could change that.

A/N: Okay, I hope you guys liked it. I wanted to post this now, because I can't wait to post the next chapter! You'll all find out what you've been waiting for . . . what July 6th was!


	6. Chapter 6

Flowers761: I'm glad you like Maddie. Yeah, Derek's a big jerk. And you sense right about Silky. He really didn't like her before, (like in the flashbacks) and now even though he likes her a little more, they're still not great friends or anything. Maddie likes Silky more than he likes her, and you'll find out more about that later.

Emador: I'm glad you liked the chapter. I know what you mean about the flashback and thank you for the input. I will keep that in mind for any other flashbacks I may have later.

Lien-Wan: You'll find out this chapter! Finally, right? lolThanks for the review.

Meadow567:I'm glad you liked the chapter and the flashback. I have a feeling you might know where this is going, but read and find out. This is the big chapter!

Nelliebly413672: I'm glad you liked it! Robbie's girlfriend is in this one (just a little though), and you'll get to find out about July 6th.

A/N: Okay, the moment you guys have waited so patiently for! You will finally find out what July 6th is. Whenever I say that, it reminds me of some famous date in history or something. And every time I hear July 6th from now on in passing conversation, I will think of Miracle. I never knew I could I could make a day famous by writing fan fiction, lol.

Disclaimer: I don't own Miracle or the real players, but I do own July 6th. ; )

Chapter 6

Maddie woke up the next morning with the sun shining in her eyes. She was in the same position as she fell asleep in the night before, and she looked up to see Jack smiling at her.

"How long have you been awake?"

"Not too long."

"You could have gotten up if you needed to."

"That's okay. I like laying here with you. I couldn't have left anyway. You looked too cute sleeping."

Maddie smiled, like she always did when Jack called her cute or beautiful. _If we end up getting married one day, I'll still find it hard to believe he thinks I'm beautiful_, she thought. Although, right now, Maddie was worried marriage wouldn't be in their future.

"Penny for your thoughts," Jack said, as if he was reading her mind.

"I was just thinking about how much I love you," she lied. She couldn't tell him what she was really thinking. Before Jack said anything in reply, a wave of nausea came over her. She got up and ran to the bathroom just in time.

Jack came in shortly after, asking if she was okay.

"I don't know. All of a sudden I felt like I was going to throw up."

"Maybe you should stay here and rest today then."

"No, I'll be fine," she answered.

"Okay, but if you feel sick later, I want you to leave work and come back here to rest."

"Okay, mom," she answered back sarcastically.

One month later . . . August 18, 1979

Over the past month, the team really started to come together and the guys looked better and better on the ice. When they weren't skating, they would lift weights or watch film on plays and other teams. A couple times a week after practice, the guys would get together and hang out in someone's room, or everyone would go out somewhere. Maddie hung out with them occasionally too, but sometimes she stayed behind to give them 'guy time.'

Most of the guys considered their teammates friends by now, except for Jack and Robbie. Although they weren't enemies anymore, they weren't about to sacrifice a limb for one another either. Maddie suspected that they were both just being stubborn, not wanting to give the other the satisfaction that they were slowly becoming friends.

That afternoon, after practice, Maddie decided to go to the locker room. Usually she had to help Doc take care of injured guys and check up on past injuries. It had been an uneventful practice though, and Maddie didn't have any work to do.

"Is everyone decent?" she called before she went in.

"Yeah, everyone except OC," she heard someone shout. He continued. "But that probably doesn't matter because you've already seen it all." Now Maddie heard laughter coming from the other guys behind the door.

"They're just teasing Maddie, everyone, including Jack is decent, you can come in," she heard Rizzo say.

She walked in and over to where Jack was sitting.

"So, your still in the massage business, right?" asked Jack.

"Of course, but I think it would be better in your dorm room," she added, smiling. That had become an inside joke ever since the day they met. Whenever Jack wanted a massage, he would have to wait until he was in his room.

"You give massages?" Verchota, who overheard their conversation, asked.

"Yeah, to Jack," Maddie answered.

"Can I get one? You can pretend I'm Jack," he hinted.

"Well, I guess I could give you one, but I will not pretend you're Jack under any circumstances."

"Deal."

Maddie gave Verchota a massage, and after the other guys saw this, a line formed. Jannie was next, followed by Rizzo, Mac, and Mark Johnson. Soon after, almost every guy was waiting in line. Maddie started cutting the massages shorter and shorter or she thought she'd never get out of there.

"Don't any of you have girlfriends you could ask to give you a massage?" Maddie asked the guys.

"Well, as we've already established, most of us are single. The select few that actually have girlfriends aren't here right now, obviously, and the rest of us, couldn't get a girl if we tried," Mac responded.

"And which category are you in, may I ask?" Mac smiled but before he could answer, Jack cut in.

"He's in a completely different category. He couldn't even get a girl if he paid one to date him."

"That hurts OC. And by the way, I do have a girlfriend."

"Oh really?" Jack asked in disbelief. "How long have you been dating? Three days?"

"More like three minutes," Mac joked.

"Guys are pigs," Maddie said, trying to sound disgusted.

"I was joking. We've actually been on again, off again for about a year."

"What's it now?" asked Jack.

Mac smiled. "Off. But after tonight, I'm not so sure."

"Like I said before, guys are pigs." Maddie walked away, and Jack and Mac laughed.

_Obviously, today is one of the days Jack and Robbie have decided to act like friends,_ Maddie thought.

"Hey Maddie, are you going out with us tonight?" Buzz asked.

"Sure, I'll go."

"Good. Gail's coming and really wants to meet you."

"Well it's about time you bring her. I want to meet her too. And she can save me from talking to you guys all night," Maddie joked.

"But you love us, Maddie."

"Well . . . all right. I guess I do."

Jack, Maddie, Rizzo, and Robbie all arrived at the bar a little after 8:00. Buzz and Gail were meeting them there, as was Robbie's girlfriend Laura. Rizzo got up to get drinks while the other three sat at the table.

"What do you guys want?"

"You buying?" Jack asked.

"Yeah," Rizzo responded.

"The most expensive beer they have."

"Very funny, OC."

"Just get whatever."

"Maddie, Mac, is a pitcher of whatever okay with you?"

"Yeah," Robbie said.

"Just get me some coke or something please."

"Okay."

While they were waiting for Rizzo to come back, Jack and Robbie started arguing about hockey. Robbie was a huge North Stars fan, while Jack loved the Bruins. Their argument started getting a little loud so Maddie decided to put an end to it.

"Hey guys."

"What?" they answered at the same time, their tones slightly annoyed because they had to stop arguing. After all, it was what they did best.

"Earlier you two were getting along so nicely. Why are you fighting now?"

"Because he doesn't realize Boston sucks," Robbie said.

"Well, they don't."

"Whatever. You're from Boston. You're biased."

"I thought you guys were starting to become friends though," Maddie said.

"Friends? With him?" Jack said. "Yeah right."

"We're not friends, Maddie. We're teammates. There's a difference," Robbie explained.

"But why did you come here together?"

"Because Rizzo made me give him a ride," Jack said.

"No, actually you asked me if I wanted a ride," Robbie corrected him.

"But it was only because Rizzo made me."

"Rizzo didn't make you. He couldn't make you do anything."

"Well, he kind of did."

"But-"

"Guys, stop," Maddie said, ending it again. It doesn't matter. Anyway, Buzz and Gail are here."

Jack and Robbie stopped arguing to see Buzz and Gail walk over to the table.

"Hey guys. This is my wonderful wife, Gail."

"I like how you threw that adjective in there, Buzz," Jack commented.

"I only speak the truth," Buzz said.

"Yeah, sure," Gail said, laughing. "And you only speak the truth when you think you will benefit from it."

Everyone laughed and said hi as Buzz introduced Gail to everyone, including Rizzo, who was back with the drinks.

Since Maddie left Boston over a month ago, she had been around guys constantly, and she was looking forward to talking to another girl. Maddie and Gail instantly found things to talk about and chatted non stop for the next two hours. They talked about everything and found out they both loved the Brady Bunch and Barry Williams. Even though the show was no longer on, the girls always caught reruns. Both girls lost track of the time and didn't even realize when the guys were listening to their conversation.

"Barry Williams is so cute! I totally would have married him if I had the chance," Gail said.

"I know. I used to want to marry Barry Williams someday too. It would have been my dream come true."

"Wow, now I remember why I hated being around Maddie and her friends," Jack said.

"Jack, Gail loves Barry Williams too."

"And I thought you were the only one."

"Well, I'm not."

"Good. You two can be obsessed together," Buzz said. "But I'm tired so are you ready to go, Gail?"

"Yeah, I'm getting tired too. All this talk of Barry Williams is making me tired."

A few minutes later, Buzz and Gail left. Maddie ended up leaving with them. She was exhausted and Jack wasn't ready to leave yet. After Maddie left, Robbie asked Jack about her.

"So, Jack. Do you ever miss getting to play the field?" Robbie asked, referring to Maddie.

"Not at all. Before Maddie though, I was a jerk. I think I still am, but Maddie must not see it."

"Yeah, I agree with that. You can be a jerk," Mac said.

"You know Mac, after tonight, I was almost borderline of considering you a friend . . . " Jack trailed off, never really finishing his sentence.

"How about you Mac? Why is it on again off again with your girlfriend?" Rizzo asked.

"I'm not gonna lie . . . I'm afraid of commitment."

"Jack was too. Until Maddie came along."

"I still am." At this, Mac looked kind of confused. Jack explained further. "I mean, I love Maddie, and I bet one day, we'll end up getting married. But if she ever pushed me into marriage I think I would flip out. It's not that I don't want to marry her, but definitely not yet." Mac nodded, understandingly. "Now you know how girls like the 'm-word'. They love talking about what their wedding will be like and their life long plans, and having kids and all of that." Rizzo and Mac nodded. "Well, it's almost like Maddie knows not to talk about those things with me. It's just like an understanding we have."

A girl with dirty blonde hair down to her shoulders and light blue eyes walked over to the table. Rizzo, Mac, and Jack all looked up.

Right away, Mac said, "Hey Laur," giving her a hug and quick kiss. She smiled.

"Hey Robbie."

"You're finally here. I thought maybe you weren't coming."

"Sorry. I had to do some things first."

"That's okay. Laura, this is OC, and this is Rizzo," he said, introducing her to the guys.

"Hi," she said.

Jack and Rizzo shook her hand.

"You can call me Jack if you want."

"And you can call me Mike, but Rizzo is more than fine."

"I've heard so much about you," Jack said.

"Really?"Laura asked.

"Yeah, Mac won't shut up about you."

"He won't?"Laura looked surprised. So did Mac. When she looked at Mac, he smiled.

"Well, maybe I do talk about you a little."

"Trust me, he talks about you a lot."

Julie laughed, still obviously surprised though. Mac was too, because he hardly ever mentioned Laura. Jack was obviously just doing him a favor. After they talked for a little while, Jack told Rizzo his news.

"Rizzo, I got it by the way."

"You did? When are you giving it to her?"

"After the Olympics."

"What are you giving Maddie?" Robbie asked.

"An engagement ring. I'm proposing."

"You're what?" Robbie asked, pausing before he continued. "Weren't you just saying how marriage scared you?"

"Yeah, but by then, I'll be ready."

"Congratulations man," Robbie said.

"She's not wearing the ring yet," Jack added.

"But she will be soon enough," Rizzo said.

A little while later the four were walking out of the bar, and Jack started talking to Mac so Laura couldn't hear.

"I figured you could use some help. I wanted to make sure you were on her good side. She seems really nice, and you should hold onto her."

"Thanks. I owe you big."

"No problem. That's what friends are for," Jack said, realizing what he had called Mac after the fact. "Well, I guess Maddie was right. Maybe we are sort of friends."

"Yeah, but only sort of. I'm not going to send you a Christmas card or buy you a birthday present or anything."

"Do you actually write Christmas cards?"

"No, but you get the idea."

"Yeah. And I still might have to take you out every now and then. For old times sake."

"Definitely. We still have to appear to not like each other."

"Especially when Maddie's around. I love seeing her get frustrated with us," Jack said. "Oh yeah. And just for the record, you're not off the hook from '76 yet."

"Okay. It's good to know we haven't put our differences completely behind us."

When Jack and Rizzo returned to their rooms, Jack was surprised that Maddie wasn't there. He decided to go to her room to find her. Luckily, her room was only down the hall. He knocked on her door, waiting for her to answer. A minute later, he knocked again. She answered this time, and smiled after she saw him.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Just came to see my favorite girlfriend."

"Oh, so I'm your favorite now?" she asked.

"I think so." He paused, then asked, "Is everything okay?" Maddie's face was a little flushed, and it seemed like something might be wrong.

"No everything's fine," she answered quickly. Jack was unconvinced.

"You sure?" he asked, searching her face for the truth.

"Yeah."

"Sit down," he told her. They walked over to her bed, and sat on the edge. "Now, tell me what's going on."

"I told you, nothing."

"You can't lie to me, you're bad at it," he said smiling.

"Okay fine." She paused, and her stomach began to do flip flops. "I need to tell you something."

Jack could tell by the look on her face it was serious. "Okay," he said unsurely, wondering if he really wanted to hear it.

"Umm," Maddie didn't know how to tell him. Even though she practiced the speech since she found out, this was the real thing. She needed to break the news to him as easily as possible. She knew that no matter what, he would react badly. Maddie was almost afraid to see his reaction. In anticipation of the reaction, her eyes teared up. "I never meant for this to happen. I'm so sorry." Maddie stopped there, trying to think of what to say next.

"Maddie, just tell me."

"I can't," she said, crying harder now. "I just-"

Jack had no idea what to do. He knew this was bad. _Did something happen? Did she meet someone else? Is she sick or something?_ He had no clue what she was going to tell him. Many thoughts ran through his mind. Jack tried to comfort her by putting his arm around her and pulling her closer. He half whispered, "You can tell me anything, you know that." Maddie wiped her eyes.

"Okay. I know you will flip out when I tell you this, so . . . "

"Try me."

"Jack . . . I'm pregnant."

A/N: So what did you think? Considering almost everyone probably knew by the end of the chapter, if you didn't guess it after the second chapter, I bet you weren't too surprised. But now you know for sure. And I'm sorry, but yes, I left off with another cliffhanger, sort of. Next update will be later this week sometime and unlike the last time, you won't have to wait three chapters to get cliffhanger answers.


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you so muchfor all of the wonderful reviews guys! I got a new record for myself for the last chapter. Yay me!

krazisoapluvnreject: Thanks. I'm glad you like it.

meadow567: Yeah, I tried to make my story different. One day, I was just thinking, what if one of the guys had a pregnant girlfriend. Then I was like, well it has to be OC. So a story was born, lol. Thanks for the review and I'm glad you like it.

surfer-kel: I'm glad you like it, thanks for the review! And to answer your question, sort of. Maddie was supposed to get her period before that, but didn't realize until July 6th that she was late. (I figured out the timeline of everything before I wrote the story.) July 6th is actually just a random date that fit with the story. And again, Robbie won't steal Maddie away. He's just being really nice. Sorry if that disappoints you. In later chapters, you'll see a little more of him and Laura though.

Flowers781: You better get that magic mirror out, lol. This chapter's very angsty. It's going to be a few more chapters until you find out about Silky. Thanks for the review and I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint you too much!

Lien-Wan: I agree. Gotta love Jack. He's amazing. And there should be tons more Miracle stories out there. I tried not to make Maddie being pregnant too obvious, but I wanted to hint at it, so I'm glad you thought I did a good job. Thanks for the review!

Nelliebly413672: I'm glad you liked it. I used to watch the Brady Bunch all the time too. It's so good! There will be more Gail later, but probably not for a few chapters. There are some other issues that need to be taken care of first. . .

Emador: I'm glad you liked the chapter and thanks for the review. Thanks again for pointing that out about the Julie/Laura thing. I completely missed those two spots. They're fixed now though, and I think I got it fixed before a lot of people even read it, so thanks!

A/N: Okay, here it is. Jack's reaction. Just to let you guys know I used a phrase in here that people used to say in the 70's. "The rabbit died" was a slang way to say someone is pregnant. You'll see why I used it later in the chapter, but I wanted to let you know what it meant so you knew when reading it.

Chapter 7

_**previously. . .**_

"Okay. I know you will flip out when I tell you this, so . . . "

"Try me."

"Jack . . . I'm pregnant."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You're what!" he screamed and stood up, his face showing that he was surprised and not happy at all. "You can't be! Are you serious? I do not believe this!"

"Look, I couldn't believe it at first either. But, it happened. We can't change the past."

"I thought you were using birth control!" he yelled, his face still red with anger.

"I was but it obviously didn't work, okay." He just stood there and stared at her, livid. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Maddie was crying now, tears streaming down her face. "Tell me what I can do to make you forgive me." Maddie knew it wasn't all her fault, but she didn't want Jack to be mad at her.

"You can't okay. There's nothing you can do." He was still being pretty loud. "I... I need to go. I need to take a walk. I just need some time to think." Jack left her room and slammed the door, leaving Maddie there, crying. Jack went outside to take a walk.

For the next few minutes, Maddie was still crying. _I knew it would be bad,_ she thought, _but I never thought he would leave like that. At least, I was hoping he'd take it a little better._ Maddie couldn't really stop crying either. She felt so alone and scared. Maddie had no one to talk to, and was upset that Jack was mad at her. The thought of raising a baby alone didn't scare her, Maddie just loved Jack so much and wanted his forgiveness. The last thing she wanted was to lose him.

Meanwhile outside . . .

Jack was walking around the campus, trying to put everything together. _Wow. I can't believe she's pregnant. I never thought this would happen. Ever_. Thoughts kept running through his mind and he had no answers to the questions he had. Jack didn't know how he would be able to handle this, especially now, with practices and going to the Olympics in six months. His whole life, hockey career, and everything he worked for, seemed to be going in a downward spiral.

After Jack walked around for a little while, he went back to his room.

"Did you have fun with Maddie?" Rizzo asked with implication when he came in.

"No," Jack answered honestly.

"Okay, what was the fight about this time?"

"Nothing."

"Then go back there and make up."

"I'm not going back there tonight. I can't even face her right now. I don't know what I would say."

Rizzo decided that he wouldn't mention it again right now. Jack obviously needed time.

Jack began flipping through the channels, not really looking for anything in particular. After a half hour, Rizzo pressed him again.

"So what happened earlier, buddy?"

"Maddie's pregnant." When he said this, Rizzo started laughing at Jack's joke, even though Rizzo didn't think the joke was that funny. "Last time I checked it wasn't that funny," Jack said, with his thick Boston accent, obviously pissed.

"That was good, OC. Now really, what's going on?" Jack ignored him, and flipped through the channels again, and now Rizzo knew he was serious. "You're serious? Maddie's pregnant?" Rizzo paused, taking the news in. "I'm sorry, I thought you were joking."

"Why would I joke about that?" Jack said, glaring at him.

"Sorry man, I don't know what to say."

"Yeah," Jack said continuing to flip through channels.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"What's there to talk about?" Jack was still channel surfing.

"I just mean - you're obviously mad. If you want to vent or whatever. It's fine."

Jack threw the remote down on the bed and took Rizzo's offer saying everything he was thinking before.

"I can't have a kid, not now. With the Olympics coming, I just can't. Everything is just so messed up." He stopped and Rizzo took this opportunity to say something.

"How did this happen?"

Jack looked at him like he was crazy. "Well, you see. Me and Maddie really loved each other and -" Rizzo cut him off.

"OC, I don't want to hear that, you know that's not what I meant. Wasn't she using . . . I mean, like . . . something-"

"Birth control?"

"Yeah."

"She said she was. I just don't know what to do. I can't be a father now. With the Olympics and everything, things are crazy enough as it is, without Maddie having a baby. This is just so . . . so . . . messed up, you know?" Jack said looking at Rizzo.

"Well, you can't do much about it now. I suggest you talk to her though. She's probably having a rough time dealing with it."

"And I'm not?" Jack asked, annoyed. "I'm the one that should be in shock here. Maddie's probably known for at least a few days, enough time to let it sink in. I can't talk to her yet."

A knock at the door interrupted Jack and Rizzo's conversation. Rizzo got up to answer it. It was Mac.

"Hey Mac."

"Hey. Is OC here?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Something's wrong with Maddie. She sounds upset. I hear crying coming from her inside her room."

"I wonder why?" Rizzo said sarcastically, looking at Jack. Mac picked up on Rizzo's remark.

"Did OC do something stupid?" Mac asked, as if Jack wasn't in the room.

"Well, you could say that. More or less. He's the reason Maddie's upset."

"Oh, so maybe I should have checked on her. If OC's being a jerk-"

"Guys, I am in the room you know. You don't have to talk about me like I'm not here."

"Sorry," they said, apologizing.

"What's going on?" Mac asked.

"Nothing," Jack responded.

"Fine. Do you want me to check on Maddie?"

"Why would I care what you do, Mac?" Jack said, a little too nasty.

"Well, I just want to make sure she's okay."

"I don't think Maddie's going to want to talk about it, Mac," Rizzo told him. "Tomorrow I'll go talk to her."

"Okay, see you guys tomorrow."

The next morning, Maddie woke up and decided it was time to go tell Herb. She knew telling him was inevitable, and she figured sooner would be better than later. Maddie walked to the door, and began to get very nervous. She had no idea how Herb would react. The door was open, but Maddie still lightly knocked anyway.

"Hi Maddie," Herb said looking up from his desk.

"Hi Herb, "Maddie said walking in. "I need to talk to you about something."

"Sure, sit down."

"Well, I have a slight problem," she started.

"What is it?"

"I'm fourteen weeks pregnant," she said as calmly as she could. Herb was quiet for a minute, then responded.

"Does OC know?" Herb asked with little emotion on his face.

"Yes," Maddie replied, still unsure how to read Herb.

"How did he take it?" Herb asked, again with little emotion in his voice.

"Well, he was kind of surprised when I told him," Maddie said, not wanting Herb to know Jack was royally pissed.

"Was he upset?"

"A little," Maddie admitted, then thought, _That was the understatement of the year._

"Well, I suppose you being here, interning, has nothing to do with the fact that you're pregnant. You would have gotten pregnant whether you were here or not, so I'm not going to let you go, because that wouldn't accomplish anything."

"Thank you," Maddie said, though not really sure how to respond. She was still unsure of how Herb was taking the news. He didn't look happy, but he didn't seem too upset either.

"When will you need to stop working?"

"I'm due in February so I can hopefully work right up to the Olympics."

"Okay. I appreciate you telling me. If you need time off or anything, just let me know. I can't give you too much time off, but since you're not due until February, there shouldn't be a problem."

"Thanks, Herb."

"Thank you for telling me."

"You're welcome."

As Maddie left the room, she breathed a sigh of relief. At least she knew Herb wasn't too upset.

When Jack got up the next morning, he was still in a very bad mood. At practice, he played extremely aggressively. Jack hit harder, skated faster, and played better defense. He felt really good about the way he was playing, but he knew it was mainly just because he was venting his anger. Having not yet spoken to Maddie, everything was still on his chest from the night before. His teammates were getting pissed off for the way he was acting. However, Herb didn't seem to notice Jack's anger, and instead complimented Jack's performance. Everyone else knew something was up.

After practice, the guys were showering and changing in the locker room while waiting for Maddie to come in to give them massages. Jack left the locker room almost as soon as practice was over. It was the fastest anyone had ever left. He didn't talk to anyone the entire time either. No sooner did he leave the room when conversation about him began.

"Hey Silky, did you notice OC's change in mood today?" Buzz asked.

"Yeah, he seemed to be taking something out on us."

"Does anyone know what that was all about?" asked Jannie, loud enough for everyone to hear.

A resounding 'no' was heard from everyone, except Rizzo and Mac, who didn't really say anything.

"I really thought he was going to take me out at one point," Mark said.

"Well, Maddie's not here," observed Silk. "Maybe they had a fight and he's pissed."

"Someone should ask him what's up."

The guys continued to talk about Jack and Maddie, wondering what they could have fought about. When Maddie still didn't come in the locker room a little while later, the guys left and Rizzo and Mac were just finishing up.

"So, are they still fighting?" Mac asked Rizzo, referring to Jack and Maddie.

"Jack hasn't talked to her yet."

"Oh," Robbie said, putting his remaining equipment in his bag.

Jack walked in the locker room a minute later.

"I left my key in here," Jack said, explaining his return.

"Are you going to go talk to her?" Rizzo asked.

"Later."

"Jack, come on. You need to do it now. It's too late to change anything. Just because the rabbit died doesn't mean you can forget how much you love her," Rizzo said, sort of quietly, but loud enough that Mac heard. Rizzo apparently didn't think Mac would know what "the rabbit died" meant.

"She's pregnant!" Mac said, surprised. Jack shook his head in disbelief, wondering how Rizzo could be so stupid to mention anything about "a rabbit dying."

"No," Rizzo said immediately, trying to cover it up. "Why would you think that?"

"You said 'the rabbit died'."

"He may be from Minnesota, but that doesn't mean he's stupid," Jack cut in, annoyed with Rizzo.

"I can't believe she's pregnant!"

"Maddie's not pregnant," Rizzo said again.

"Like I said, he's not stupid," Jack said dryly.

"Oh my God, I don't believe it!" Mac said, obviously the news still not completely sinking in.

"I couldn't believe it either," Jack said, more talking to himself.

"Wow. Maddie's pregnant," Mac said, still trying to comprehend the news.

"Mac, if you say 'wow' or 'oh my God' one more time, you'll have a nice black eye to wow," Jack threatened.

"Sorry, I'm just shocked."

"Welcome to my world."

"But you were there when it happened."

"Doesn't mean I'm not surprised as hell."

"Yeah but . . . never mind," Mac said, now deciding to shut up.

"I think I'm going to see Maddie this afternoon. Make sure she's doing okay," Rizzo said, picking up his stuff and heading for the door.

"See you later," Mac responded, while Jack didn't say anything. Right before Jack walked out the door, Mac stopped him. "Jack, I know this is hard, but you have to talk to Maddie. You can't go on avoiding her forever. Everyone on the team knows something's up too. They were talking about it earlier."

"I need time to think, okay. I am having a really hard time with this."

"Well, obviously Maddie is too."

"I'll talk to her when I want to. Don't tell me what to do. You're not in this situation, so you don't know what's going on. Don't pretend to be able to relate to what I'm going through."

"I'm not. I'm just giving advice."

"Well I don't need your advice," Jack said, leaving the locker room.

After knocking on Maddie's door, Rizzo only waited a few seconds before she answered. Maddie smiled and pretended to be cheery, but Rizzo could see right through.

"Hey Rizzo, I'm sorry I couldn't come by for massages today, I had a lot to get done around here."

"Maddie, I know everything, Jack told me." Upon hearing this, Maddie's smile disappeared immediately.

"Oh."

"I wanted to come by to see how you were doing."

"I'm okay. I just wish he would talk to me."

"I know. I think he will."

"So, how mad was he when he came back last night?"

"He wasn't that mad." Maddie gave him a look saying 'I don't believe you,' and Rizzo changed his answer. "Okay, he was mad. Really mad. But I think the anger is hiding the fear. He just doesn't know what to do."

"What to do? He doesn't need to do anything. There's not anything he can do unless . . . " Maddie paused, mid-sentence, thinking. "Unless he's going to leave me," she said with worry written all over her face.

"I don't think so. He does love you, Maddie. I don't think he'd let a baby change that. In time, it'll probably make him love you even more."

"I hope you're right."

A/N: I hoped you liked it. Please review! I love reading reviews and they make me want to update faster. wink, wink


	8. Chapter 8

krazisoapluvnreject: Thanks for the review. I'm glad you liked Jack's reaction. I tried to make it as realistic as possible, but considering I've never been in Maddie's situation, I completely made up the reaction.

Flowers781: Well, I guess I'm glad I made you mad to suck you in, lol. You better keep that magic mirror out though! Thanks for the review.

surfer-kel: Okay, I can't get the link in here, so it's in my profile. I wasjust looking for some slang to use in the story, and when I saw the phrase,I was like, I so have to use that! I wanted to make Jack's reaction as realistic as possible, and I figured that a guy with his temper in that situation would be pretty pissed. I also wanted drama and angst in the story. Thanks for the review and I'm glad you liked it!

Emador: The rabbit died was from the 20's when a woman's urine would be injected into a rabbit ovaries. A chemical would be present if the girl was pregnant, but the only way to tell if the rabbit had the chemical, was to kill the rabbit. In relaity, the rabbit would die whether the girl was pregnant or not. The phrase was still used in the 70's, although other methods were used to tell if someone was pregnant. I'm glad you're hooked on the story. I try to update as often as possible. I also followed what you said about liking Jack's reaction to Mac's reaction about Maddie, lol. Thanks for the review.

Meadow567: Thanks for the review. I do remeber Mac getting his girlfriend pregnant in that story now. But like you said, they weren't main characters. I'm glad you liked Jack's reaction.

Nelliebly413672: Yeah, he is blaming Maddie a lot. Just wait until you read this chapter! Thanks for the review.

Lien-Wan: I'm so gad you like the story. Thank you for the review. Without the reviews, I wouldn't update as often as I do. I hate when authors only update once a year, which is why I have the majority of the story already written. But reviews really get me to post faster, so thank you.

A/N: Thank you all again for the wonderful reviews! Seven again, yay! Getting reviews really makes my day. Hope you guys like thischapter too.It's still angsty, and most of it is conversations and other guys finding out about Maddie's pregnancy. Enjoy and hit that little review button when you're done:)

Chapter 8

For the two weeks after Maddie told Jack, the same thing went on. They still hadn't spoken to each other about anything, let alone, the baby. Maddie and Jack had each been avoiding one another like they were infected with the plague. Mac and Rizzo remained the messengers for them. They would keep Maddie company, and help her with anything she needed, while keeping Jack up to date with how Maddie was doing and pushing him to talk to her. The rest of the team was becoming less and less patient with the four. Jack was being a jerk and almost always in a bad mood, Mac and Rizzo knew what was happening but wouldn't say a word, Maddie was always trying to be funny and make jokes, pretending to be happy, and worst of all, all four pretended nothing was wrong.

August 31, 1979

Jack, Rizzo, and Silky were sitting in the dorms watching baseball on ESPN after a rough practice earlier that day. Since the team was leaving for Europe in a few days to start their pre-Olympic tour, Herb was pushing them really hard. The team was going to be playing ten games between Holland, Finland, and Norway. Jack had a lot on his mind the past two weeks, and most of it had nothing to do with hockey or the upcoming games. He was really concerned about Maddie.

"Hey Rizzo."

"Yeah?"

"How's Maddie feeling?" Jack asked, momentarily forgetting Silky was in the room.

"Okay, I guess."

"Has she seen a doctor yet?"

"I don't know."

"Could you find out? I want to make sure everything's going okay. But don't tell her I asked you to ask her."

"OC, why don't you just talk to her."

"I can't yet."

"It's been nearly two weeks. Stop acting like a high school prick and talk to her," Rizzo said, annoyed.

"It's not that easy," said Jack. "Please ask her. I promise I'll talk to her soon."

"Okay fine. But only because Maddie's my friend and I care about her _and_ the baby."

"Baby?" Silky said, surprised.

"Rizzo, can't you keep your mouth shut?" Jack said, annoyed.

"You brought it up, OC."

"But you said 'baby'," Jack said.

"Is she pregnant?" Silky asked.

"Yeah."

"Holy shit! Seriously?"

"Yeah, Silky."

"Sucks to be you," he commented to Jack.

"Why's that?" Rizzo wondered.

"Cause daddy OC's gonna need to help with a kid and try to please his perfect girlfriend."

"Silky . . . " Rizzo warned.

"So were you two that irresponsible or was it her fault?" Silky asked, ignoring Rizzo.

"OC was there. It wasn't just Maddie's fault. Jack's the one that can't keep it in his pants," Rizzo said. Jack rolled his eyes and ignored the last part of his comment.

"She was on birth control," Jack said.

"And what were condoms invented for?" Rizzo asked sarcastically.

"I thought the pills were enough." For a few minutes, the guys went back to watching TV. Once Rizzo left the room for a minute, Silky spoke up again.

"You said she was on birth control?"

"Yeah."

"What if she stopped taking it and didn't tell you?"

"Why would she do that?"

"Come on, OC. Why do you think she would do it? You can't be that stupid." Jack didn't answer. He had no idea why Maddie would stop taking the pills. "Let's say Maddie thought being pregnant would get you to stay with her. How would that happen while she was on birth control?"

"Are you implying she might have gotten pregnant on purpose?"

"Kind of."

"Silky, that's crazy. Maddie would never do that. She had no reason to either, and she knew that."

"Are you sure? Girls like her would do anything."

"Girls like her? What do you have against her? It's pretty obvious you still don't like Maddie that much, but I've never known why."

"Jack. She's perfect. She's always nice. I've never heard her yell, even though you say she has. All I know is no one is that nice all the time. It's so fake."

"Are you serious? You don't like her because you think she's too nice?"

"And perfect. She's such a pleaser and I hate that."

"Whatever. That's the dumbest reason I've ever heard for not liking someone. You're just jealous of what we have, aren't you?"

"Oh yeah, OC. I'm _real _jealous. Especially now that's she's pregnant. How I just wish I could be you," Silky said sarcastically.

"I'm serious, Silky. You've never had a girlfriend for more than a month. I've been dating Maddie for ten. You're obviously jealous of what I have. But whatever. I guess you're going to have to get over the fact that girls just don't like you for more than a one night stand," Jack said, with an edge in his voice.

"Ya know what, OC? I'm not jealous. I happen to like dating a lot of different girls. I think you're jealous though. Of me. You can't hook up with girls anymore, and you can't leave Maddie either. Well, you can, but since she has you wrapped around her finger, it's too hard. And now that she's pregnant, it will be even harder to leave her."

"I love Maddie," Jack said.

"If you loved her as much as you say you do, you'd talk to her. I think you should stop pretending." This comment made Jack get even more angry than he already was.

"I'm not pretending! Maybe you should stop pretending to be friends with her though. She has no idea how much you hate her, and until today, I didn't really either!"

"Oh yeah. I'll be sure to tell her. Normally, I wouldn't want to make her cry, but now I don't even care. Maybe little Miss Perfect needs to find out how people really feel about her," Silky said, getting up and walking to the door.

"People, Silky? Don't you mean you?" Jack said as Silky slammed the door.

After Silky left, Jack started thinking about what Silky was saying. He was kind of right about Maddie in a way. Maddie did try too hard to be perfect, but Jack still loved her. He was still pissed about her getting pregnant, but there was nothing he could do now. _If Maddie was taking the birth control regularly though, how could she be pregnant? _Jack wondered. _What if Silky was right about her wanting to get pregnant? Maddie wouldn't do that though, would she? _Now Jack was even more confused than before, due to Silky putting ideas in his head.

September 1, 1979

Early the next morning, Maddie was eating breakfast and watching the morning news when she heard a knock on her door.

"Come on in, it's open." Rizzo walked in and sat on the bed next to her.

"Hey Maddie."

"Hey Rizzo. What brings you here this early?"

"I wanted to see how you're doing."

"I'm okay," she said, though sounding a little sad.

"I don't just mean with the whole OC thing, but how are you and the baby doing?"

"Good. Everything's fine."

"Have you seen a doctor?" Rizzo asked seriously. Normally, he would have felt weird asking girls personal question like that. Over the last two weeks though, he was around Maddie so much that it wasn't awkward anymore. Probably because he learned more about women and pregnancy in the last two weeks than he ever hoped to learn. After all, only a few people knew that she was pregnant, all of them guys, and Rizzo was the only guy that would listen to her "girl talk."

"Yes, mom," Maddie said, in response to Rizzo's question.

"I'm serious Maddie. I want to make sure you are getting the right care and everything you need."

"I know. I have been seeing a doctor. That's why I occasionally leave in the afternoon before practice is over."

"Okay, good. Just making sure everything is okay."

"Thanks Rizzo," Maddie said, and she truly meant it. It was nice to have someone watching out for her.

Later that day. . .

After practice that afternoon, Maddie had a lot to take care of. Mark Johnson needed his ankle checked out after he hurt it in practice, the guys wanted massages, and she still had to pack for Europe. Maddie and Mark were in a room off the locker room, with Maddie looking at Mark's ankle, when he started asking her about Jack.

"So, what exactly is going on with you and OC?"

"We're just having a little fight."

"A little fight? You haven't spoken for two weeks! That seems like more than a little fight to me."

"Well, it's a big fight then."

"Jack didn't say something really stupid or break up with you, did he?" Mark asked, halfway kidding to lighten the conversation, but also thinking the fight may have been Jack's fault.

"Not yet. At least not officially," Maddie responded seriously.

Now Mark felt really bad for saying that. He had only been joking, but apparently their fight was about something big. Jack even thinking about breaking up with her was worst case, never going to happen, scenario. Maddie's reply wasn't really what Mark was looking for.

"Maddie, Jack loves you. Whatever happened, you guys will fix. Whatever problems you're having, they'll go away." She shook her head. "Come on, what could be so bad that would change your relationship that much?" he said, with a half smile.

"I'm pregnant."

"Well, I guess that could do it," Mark said quietly. "So, my guess is, Jack wasn't happy about this." He wondered what Jack's exact reaction had been.

"Would you be?" Maddie said rhetorically.

"He probably just needs time, okay. I bet he'll talk to you soon."

"Let's hope so. It's already been two weeks."

"How many people know?"

"On the team, Jack, Rizzo, Mac, and now, you. Unless Jack told anyone else. Herb, Doc, and Craig all know too."

"How did Herb take it?"

"I guess fine. He didn't fire me, but when I told him, he just acted like Herb. I had no idea what he was thinking." Maddie continued checking Mark's ankle for a sprain or stretched ligament or tendon, but didn't find much of anything. "Well, the good news is you'll be okay for the games coming up. There's only a slight sprain, if that. Just try to keep off of it tonight, and you'll be fine."

"Thanks, Maddie," he said, getting up off the table. "If you ever want to talk or anything, I'm here."

"Thanks," Maddie said with a smile. She followed him into the locker room and saw a bunch of guys ready and waiting for their massages.

"Sorry guys, but you'll have to come to my room if you want a massage later. I have a lot of packing to do, and I'm already tired."

"Aww," the guys said, starting to whine. Maddie was leaving the locker room when Jimmy stopped her.

"Hey Maddie. I almost forgot to tell you. Maureen found out she's having a baby." Jimmy was talking about his sister, who had recently gotten married. Maddie was at Maureen's wedding and Jimmy thought she'd be glad to hear about the baby.

However, when Jimmy said this, Maddie was walking and not paying attention to where she was going, and Jack, who heard this as well looked at Jimmy. The two ran right into each other. Now everyone in the locker room was looking at them. You could have heard a pin drop it was so silent. Everyone was wondering the same thing - what will they do? It was the first time in two weeks Jack and Maddie had been anywhere near each other, and this was only an accident.

"Sorry," they said at the same time, moving away form each other quickly, but holding their stare for a few seconds. This didn't go unnoticed by anyone.

Still looking at Jack, Maddie said, "Tell her congratulations for me," and left the locker room.

The door shut and Buzz immediately asked, "What's with you two, OC?" This was never a question the guys directly asked Jack, for fear that he might kill them. They occasionally asked Maddie, who would reply, 'nothing', and Mac and Rizzo would dodge the question, changing the subject.

"Nothing," Jack said casually, pretending to be confused.

"All right, that's it. Sit down," Bah said.

"Why?"

"Because you're not leaving here until you tell us what's up with you and Maddie."

"Cause we all know something is going on," Buzz added.

The rest of the guys looked at Jack, but Mac and Rizzo looked at the floor. Silky looked pretty amused at the situation, and Mark, now knowing as well, busied himself by putting equipment in his bag.

"And we know they know," Verchota said, pointing to Mac and Rizzo.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, you don't have a choice. Tell us, now."

"Fine. Maddie and I had a fight and we broke up."

"Seriously?" Buzz questioned. Mac and Rizzo looked at each other, confused, wondering when they actually broke it off. Neither Maddie nor Jack had mentioned a break up.

Jack gave the two a look that could kill saying, 'Keep your mouths shut,' but Jimmy noticed.

"You're lying. Come on. Tell us."

"I'm not the one that should tell you. Maddie should be the person to tell you. I don't know if she wants anyone to know yet."

"Fine. Let's let OC go boys. We'll ask Maddie and if she doesn't tell us, we'll get OC later," Jimmy said. The majority of the guys left the room shortly after that, leaving only Jack, Rizzo, Mac, and Jimmy behind. Mac and Rizzo began talking quietly, almost in a code, which got Jimmy really annoyed.

"Okay, that's it," Jimmy said. "I'm the only one here that doesn't know, and I know Silky knows too. Therefore, I'm the only Boston guy that doesn't have a clue what's going on. Even Mac knows," he said, throwing Mac a glance. "I can keep a secret. Time to spill the beans." Jack sat silently at first, then gave in.

"Fine," he said, and sighed, rubbing his hand on his forehead. "Maddie's pregnant." Jack looked up, to see his expression, which was one of total shock.

"Wow," he finally got out. "I really didn't see that coming." Jimmy paused, then added, "So that's why she's been acting different. Hormones."

"I don't think it's just hormones," said Mac. "Jack won't talk to her."

"What's your problem?" Jimmy asked, noticeably annoyed. "You knocked her up and now you don't want to take responsibility?"

Everyone was shocked at what Jimmy just said. Normally he wasn't that outspoken.

"Look. You don't know what I'm going through. If you were in my situation, you'd probably be upset too," Jack said angrily.

"I wouldn't put all the blame on my girlfriend either. After all, you were there when it happened."

"Shut up, Jimmy."

"Did you miss the memo that condoms aren't totally effective and sometimes pregnancies happen anyway?"

"I didn't use one," Jack mumbled.

"What! And you're blaming this on Maddie? You should have used a condom. It's not her fault."

"Shut up, Jimmy," Jack said again.

"Can't you just talk to her at least? And tell her you're scared. I bet she is too. She's the one having the baby," Rizzo said.

"I'm not scared," Jack said, defending himself.

"Then why won't you talk to her?"

"I'm mad."

"I think you're too cocky and stubborn to admit you're scared," said Mac.

"Why don't you stay out of this? I'm sick of you telling me what to do," Jack said. "All of you," he added.

"Fine, we won't give you any advice," said Jimmy, walking out of the locker room. The rest of the guys left too, leaving Jack there to think to himself.

_Were they all right? Am I scared?_ Jack wondered._ Yeah, and too scared to admit it._ The anger had worn off, and now he was just terrified. He would be a terrible parent. It wasn't only that. After being such a jerk to Maddie, he didn't know how to apologize because he really didn't think he deserved to be forgiven. Jack was most afraid of Maddie not wanting to forgive him. After all, it had been two weeks.

When Jimmy left the locker room, he took a walk to Maddie's room. She answered the door, smiling and acting cheerful.

"Hey. Were you coming by for a massage?"

"No, just to talk," Jimmy said.

"Okay," Maddie said, plastering a smile on her face. Somehow, she thought Jimmy might know everything. In case he didn't though, Maddie wasn't planning on giving him any clues.

"You should really consider the acting business," said Jimmy, walking into her room.

"Why?"

"Cause you're really good at it." He paused before adding, "But I bet if you started yelling right now, or crying, you wouldn't have to act much."

"What are you talking about?"

"Maddie, I know everything," Jimmy said.

"Oh," she said, looking down.

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone," Jimmy said. "And I'm sorry I brought up Maureen expecting. I really had no idea."

"That's okay, you didn't know," Maddie said, continuing to look at the floor, not wanting to look at Jimmy.

"Maddie, it's okay. It really is," Jimmy said, putting his arm around her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

"No, it's not. Everything is all my fault," Maddie said, trying her hardest not to start crying.

"Don't say that, Maddie."

"But it's true. Jack's so mad, and I feel so ashamed. But I should, shouldn't I? I'm going to turn into one of those young, single mothers that I never thought I'd be-"

"Don't be ashamed Maddie. You have nothing to be ashamed of. You and Jack love each other," said Jimmy.

"Loved," said Maddie. "He doesn't love me anymore." She started to cry more, then blamed the hormones.

"I think he still does love you. He's just really scared."

"So am I. We could be scared together," Maddie suggested innocently. Looking at Maddie right then, Jimmy noticed how vulnerable and innocent she looked. She sounded like a little girl the way she suggested her and Jack being scared together.

"In time, I'm sure he'll come around," Jimmy said, optimistically. He felt so sorry for her right then, and wished he could do more to help.

"Well, he better hurry up. He only has until tomorrow morning."

"Why tomorrow?" Jimmy asked, genuinely confused.

"I'm leaving."

"We all are. But you could make up after we get back too. Or while we're there." Maddie shook her head.

"I'm going back to Boston. I'm hoping my family will support me. But who knows? They never really liked Jack, and they may not want me around."

"You can't go back to Boston!" Jimmy said in protest.

"I can't stay here."

"Why not? We'll take care of you. And everyone would miss you if you left."

"I'm not changing my mind. Unless Jack at least talks to me before leaving for Europe, I'm not going to be here when you get back."

Jimmy knew Maddie's mind was set and she wouldn't change it. Sometimes, she was as stubborn as Jack, although, she waited two weeks for him to talk to her, and she had every right to be stubborn and fed up with him. Jimmy tried to convince her to stay, but didn't have any luck.

"Well then, you at least have to come out with us tonight. We need to throw you a going away party," Jimmy said.

"I really don't want everyone knowing. Most of you guys have become great friends of mine, and it'll just make it harder leaving. You'll all be sad to see me go and if I think it's hard saying no to you alone, how will I ever turn down twenty of you?"

"Well, you still have to come out with us tonight."

"Okay, I guess."

Jimmy left Maddie's room, and knew he needed to do something fast. She couldn't leave. He had a feeling Jack wouldn't talk to her until it was too late. Before Jimmy went back to his room, he ran into Mark. After realizing that Mark knew about Maddie, Jimmy told him that she was leaving. They both decided to stop in Mac's room.

"Mac, we need to talk," Jimmy said, pounding on his door.

"Okay, hold on a minute. I'm coming."

When Mac opened the door, Jimmy and Mark started talking so fast and at the same time, so Mac didn't know what they were saying.

"Slow down, and take a breath," said Mac. The two stopped talking and then Mac said, "Now in English, one at a time."

"Maddie's leaving," Mark said.

"She's so fed up with Jack and his little game, she's going back to Boston," Jimmy explained.

"What? When?" Mac asked, clearly surprised.

"Tomorrow, when we leave."

"I don't believe it."

"I do. Jack's been playing his game too long. I think someone should knock some sense into him," said Jimmy. "He's really hurting Maddie."

"Rizzo and I have been trying to get him to talk to her. He's too stubborn and into himself to admit he's wrong."

"That's why we don't take no for an answer," said Jimmy.

"She's going to the bar with us tonight. We're going to get everyone to go," said Mark.

"But we can't tell anyone she's leaving," said Jimmy.

The guys knew they had a tough situation ahead of them, and just hoped everything would work out. Right now though, it looked like Maddie wouldn't be around after tonight.

A/N: Little cliffhanger for you guys! Hope you liked the chapter, the next will be up Wednesday at the latest.


	9. Chapter 9

Flowers781: Yeah, Silky has more issues this chapter too. And Jack hasn't gotten over his problems yet either. I promise this is the last angsty chapter for Jack and Maddie. I bet you'll really like the next one! Thanks for the review.

Lien-Wan: I LOVE torturing you! This is the last chapter of the torture though. Thanks for reviewing!

Emador: Thanks. I get sick of reading stories with perfect girls too, so I made sure Maddie wouldn't be perfect. Jimmy is a sweetheart, gotta love him. Thanks for the reivew, I'm glad you liked it!

Meadow567: It could go either way, but you're thinking right! Thanks for the review.

Nelliebly413672: OC will come around soon. Not this chapter though, sorry! Thanks for the review.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews and I bet most of you will be glad to know this is the last angsty chapter for a little while. Also, for this chapter keep in mind that Maddie doesn't know that Silky knows about the baby.

Chapter 9

September 1, 1979

Once Rizzo found out that Maddie might be leaving, he knew he had to talk to Jack. When Rizzo arrived at the bar, Jack was already there. Maddie wasn't there yet because she was packing, and Jimmy was bringing her in a little while.

"Hey OC," said Rizzo, walking up to him.

"Hey, what's up?"

"You need to talk to Maddie tonight, as soon as she gets here."

"Didn't I tell you to stay out of my business?"

"You don't understand. Maddie's leaving tomorrow for Boston. And once she's gone, she's not coming back."

"Well, maybe it's for the better." Rizzo couldn't believe what Jack was saying. _What the hell was wrong with him?_ Rizzo thought. Then he saw the beer in front of him.

"How many have you had OC?"

"Just a few," Jack responded, even though Rizzo knew Jack had lost count.

"That's just wonderful." From what Rizzo could see, Jack wasn't in any condition to talk to Maddie. Unless something incredible happened, the team could say good-bye to Maddie.

Rizzo went to sit with Mac at a table, waiting for Maddie and Jimmy to get there. In the meantime, Verchota, Rammer, and Jannie went over to sit with OC. Now that he was drunk, they figured they could get him to talk about what happened between him and Maddie.

The three guys started out with small talk of random things. Soon, the conversation turned to girls, and things started to get interesting.

"The time my girlfriend was most mad at me was when she caught me kissing my ex," said Rammer.

"Well, my girl was mad at me when I only got her flowers and a card for Valentine's Day. She assumed I thought she was fat 'cause I didn't get her candy."

The guys laughed, and all drank beer as Rizzo and Mac walked up.

"I'll do you one better. My last girlfriend flipped when I forgot to use a condom. On top of that, she missed her period and thought I knocked her up," said Verchota. "I didn't, but our relationship ended pretty quickly."

"I can do better than all of you," said OC, who was completely out of it.

"Oh yeah, how's that?" asked Jannie. "What happened with you and Maddie?"

"She stopped using birth control and now she's pregnant. She's saying it's all my fault when really it's hers for lying to me about the birth control. What does she think - that I'll stay with her just because of a baby?"

Jannie, Verchota, and Rammer looked at Jack, totally shocked. Mac and Rizzo were surprised too because of what Jack just said about Maddie. Sure he was drunk, but that didn't give him the right to say that.

"What are you doing, man?" asked Mac.

"Hey, good to see you," said Jack, turning around.

"Why'd you tell everyone that?" asked Rizzo.

"It's true ya know."

"It's not and you know it," said Mac, who was visibly angry.

"Maddie's pregnant?" said Verchota, getting over his initial shock.

"Yeah. Sucks, doesn't it?" said OC.

"All right, stop it right now, OC," Mac said. "You love Maddie and you need to stop talking about her like that. She's having your baby and she needs some support."

"Well, maybe you could help her out and give her the support she needs. I'm too busy for that."

"OC, you're being a jerk. Stop it already, and give me that," Rizzo said taking the half empty glass of beer form his hand.

"Hey, give that back. I'm not done yet." When Rizzo didn't comply, Jack got up and grabbed it from him, pushing Rizzo in the process. The glass slipped from his hand and smashed on the floor. "Now look what you made me do."

"Just sit down, man, and relax," said Jannie, trying to get Jack to calm down. Everyone had a feeling that if they didn't stop him soon, things would get really out of hand. Jack was already going over the edge with his temper.

"Hey, having a baby won't be that bad," said Jannie.

"Yeah, you guys will be great parents," said Rammer.

"Yeah, Maddie'll be a great mom," Jack slurred.

"And you'll be a great dad," continued Rizzo.

"Why doesn't everyone just shut up and stop trying to make me happy? I'm not happy and I don't want to think about it right now." The guys immediately stopped talking. "Thanks," OC continued. "After all, I wouldn't want to do anything I regret to the next one that opens their mouth." With this threat, no one said another word.

A few minutes later, Jimmy and the cone heads came in with Maddie. They sat at the table next to the other guys. No one dared to mention anything to Maddie about the baby. The guys that just found out figured they weren't really supposed to know and didn't want to embarrass her by bringing it up.

Once everyone sat down, Jimmy went to talk to Mac and Rizzo about the situation with Jack. They knew things were going to turn out even worse if he kept up drinking. In the meantime, Silky and Mark walked in. Silky took everyone's drink orders and got them from the bar. Everyone had beer except Maddie, who just ordered coke. Silky handed her the glass and Maddie took a sip, immediately spitting it back into the glass.

"Silky, what is this?"

"Coke."

"No, it's not. I tasted alcohol."

"Okay, so it's rum and coke. I figured you could use a little drink."

"Well, I don't want it."

"Why not?" Silky asked. He knew why she wouldn't drink it, but he wanted her to tell everyone else.

"I really shouldn't have any."

"Look, it doesn't matter if you're hungover tomorrow. You'll sleep on the plane anyway."

"I can't have any."

"Maddie, you need to treat yourself. You haven't had one drink since you've got here. You're not leaving tonight without drinking at least a little," Silky said. "Or at least give us a really good reason why you won't."

"What are you doing, Silky?" Jack asked, who was walking back to the table. Jack had an expression on his face that Maddie couldn't read too well, but Jack looked pissed at Silky. "Leave her alone. If she doesn't want anything, don't make her." Maddie was surprised that Jack was defending her.

"OC, you haven't given Maddie the time of day for the last two weeks. Why are you being nice to her now?" asked Bah, who was half joking.

Maddie was hoping he wouldn't answer that and luckily for her, Jack wasn't paying attention to Bah. She really didn't want everyone finding out about the baby yet. _I have a feeling more people know than I think, though. The way Verchota and Rammer keep looking at me I'm sure they know. Obviously Buzz, Bah, Pav, and Silky don't know though, _she thought.

"If you don't want that I can get you something else," offered Buzz.

"Anything without alcohol. I can't have any tonight."

"No, you can have it. You just don't want any. There's a difference," said Silk.

"Yeah, the only people that can't have alcohol are people with, like, liver failure," Pav added. "And you aren't having liver problems."

"Alcohol's not good for the baby either," Maddie said quietly, looking at the floor.

"What?" asked Buzz, having not heard her last comment.

"Alcohol is not good for pregnant women," she said much louder, almost yelling.

"Yeah, but you're not pregnant," Buzz said and smiled.

Bah and Pav immediately realized what Buzz had said, and Maddie continued staring at the floor. Buzz then realized what was going on.

"Oh my God. You're pregnant!" Buzz yelled.

The other table, including Jack, looked over at Maddie. She realized everyone was looking at her, and in response, turned bright red.

"Yeah, how about you just tell everyone Buzz!" she yelled with tears in her eyes as she got up and ran out of the bar.

"Oh shit, you're in trouble Buzz," Verchota said.

"I can't believe she's pregnant!" said Bah. "No wonder someone's been really moody lately."

"She hasn't been that moody," Mac said in Maddie's defense.

"I wasn't talking about Maddie," he said, looking over at Jack. "I was talking about someone else."

"Oh, OC?" asked Buzz. Jack looked over, with an evil stare.

" I have not been moody," Jack grumbled.

"Hey, don't look at me, he said it," Buzz said, pointing to Bah.

'You all better watch it," said Jack, clearly still angry.

"You really need to learn to keep your mouth shut," Pav whispered to Buzz.

Meanwhile Outside . . .

Maddie ran outside and felt a little better with the cold, fresh air on her skin. She felt bad for yelling at Buzz, but she didn't want everyone to know. Even though everyone was bound to find out eventually. Everything was building up and all Maddie felt like doing was crying. Soon, she was crying so hard, she forgot why in the first place. She was sitting in the parking lot resting against a car when Rizzo came over to her.

"Hey Maddie," Rizzo said.

"Hey," she said, wiping the tears from her face.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just needed some fresh air."

Rizzo sat down next to her and put his arm around her. "I'm sorry everyone found out like that."

"It's fine. They were bound to find out eventually." She was silent for a minute before continuing. "I just feel so overwhelmed right now. There's so much I have to think about and do. I can't talk about this to anyone. Jack's still pissed off. I don't want to leave. I would really love to give Jack another chance, but I don't want to be disappointed . . . " Maddie trailed off, and began crying again. "I'm sorry Rizzo. I don't mean to cry and put everything on you, I just don't know what to do anymore."

"Maddie, it's okay," he said, pulling her in a hug. "You don't need to apologize for being my friend. I'm here for you, no matter what. You can talk to me all you want, or even just cry. It's okay."

Maddie sat in Rizzo's arms for a few minutes. Maddie felt so much better, just having a shoulder to cry on. She forgot how good it felt to be held.

"Hey Maddie, you okay?" asked Bah, walking over to where Maddie and Rizzo were sitting.

"Yeah," she said, standing up and trying to smile.

"I'm sorry about before. We shouldn't have said anything."

"That's okay. It was only a matter of time before everyone found out."

"Not like that though."

"No really, it's okay. I didn't mean to get so upset. With these hormones, one minute I'm fine and the next I'm balling my eyes out."

"I'm going to go back inside for a minute," Rizzo said, leaving Maddie and Bah to talk.

"Buzz wanted me to apologize for him too. He feels really bad, but he was too scared to come talk to you right now. He thinks you might hurt him," he said with a smile.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because, according to him, you had a look that could kill," Bah said as Maddie laughed.

"He's too sweet to hurt," said Maddie.

"Good because I want to live," Buzz said walking out the bar with Pav close behind.

"Hey guys," Maddie said.

"Hey," they said in unison.

There was an awkward silence, and none of the guys knew what to say.

"So," Pav said, trying to break the silence.

"Buzz, you can say it," Maddie said, smiling, reading him. She knew what he was thinking about saying. He smiled back, knowing what she was talking about.

"Congratulations," he said, and gave her a big hug.

"Thanks."

"Wait. Are you happy about this?" Bah asked, sort of confused.

"Not at first," Maddie admitted. "I was scared and still am. But at the same time, it's exciting. I'm getting used to the idea that I'm going to be a mom." Maddie paused for a minute, then continued, "I just wish Jack would get over himself."

"I'm sure he will in time," Pav said reassuringly.

"By the time he does, it will be too late."

"I'll make him," Buzz said in a threatening tone, although they all knew he was kidding.

"Is that why he constantly asks Rizzo how you're doing?" Bah asked.

"He does?" Maddie asked.

"Yeah, the other day I overheard them talking in their room. I didn't listen for long so I didn't know what it was about. OC just said something like 'how's Maddie doing?'"

"Wow, maybe Jack does care," Maddie said sarcastically.

"Of course he does," said Pav. "He really loves you. We can all tell."

After the four chatted, Maddie didn't feel like going back in the bar. She was so tired, so Bah offered to take her back to her room. Buzz and Pav went back in the bar.

"Where's Maddie?" asked Mac when Buzz and Pav came back in.

"Bah took Maddie to her room. She was tired," explained Pav.

"You let her leave!" Rizzo asked, in a loud whisper so no one else would hear. The two looked at each other, wondering what was going on.

"If Jack doesn't talk to her tonight, she's leaving for Boston. She's not coming with us to Europe."

"What?" they both said, shocked.

"She can't go home," continued Buzz.

"Nice going you two," said Mac.

"Hey, it's not like we knew," Buzz said.

Back at the dorms, Maddie and Bah hung out in her room. He offered to stay and keep Maddie company for a while. At first, they avoided all conversation of Jack and the baby. Maddie was extremely quiet, which was not really normal for her.

"Jack will come around, you know."

"I hope so," said Maddie.

"If he doesn't you still have the rest of us - and you always will. All of us will be here for you."

Maddie smiled, knowing it was true. She knew the guys would support her no matter what. Maddie also knew she couldn't leave the team. After all, they would never leave her, so she couldn't leave them either. In addition, Maddie really didn't want to tell Herb she was quitting the internship. She didn't think that would go over too well.

A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter! Please review - reading what you guys have to say makes my day. The next chapter probably won't be up until Sunday night or Monday. I'm going to be really busy the next few days, bit I'll post it as soon as possible. No more angst either, at least for a few chapters!


	10. Chapter 10

surfer-kel: I' so glad you like the story, thanks for the review! You'll get your wish this chapter about Jack. And as you'll find out more later, the guys really do need Maddie to control them, lol.

Flowers781:Thanks for the review! I figured since Jack was being an ass, most of the other guys could be supportive. After all, Maddie needs some people on her side. I'm glad you lie it.

Lien-Wan: Sorry about making you wait. I hope you like this chapter, lot's of Jack not being stupid, lol! Thanks for the review.

Nelliebly413672: Glad you liked it and thanks for the review! I think you'll be happier with Jack this chapter.

Meadow567: I do love the coneheads! They're all so cute. :) Thanks for the review.

Emador: I love them all too. Thanks for the reivew, I'm glad you liked the chapter. Drama and angst are great, but like you said, fun stuff is too. This chapter will have lots more of that!

A/N: Okay, the chapter you've all been waiting for. Sorry I couldn't update earlier today. It's a very long story. Anyway, when I saw the team is going to Europe, I'm talking about Norway and stuff, but I'm making it more like what actually happened. The team went to Norway and a few other places in Europe, traveling about two weeks or so, and that's what I'm going with. (Just wanted to let you know so you don't wonder why I keep saying Europe instead of Norway.) Okay, so on with the chapter!

Chapter 10

September 2, 1979

At ten the next morning, Rizzo took a walk to Maddie's room, just to say good-bye. He was surprised when Bah answered the door.

"Hey. What are you doing here?" Rizzo asked.

"I kept Maddie company last night. She fell asleep so I stayed on the couch. I'm making her breakfast now. Do you want some?"

"No I just thought I'd come by to say good-bye."

"What?"

"Well, she's leaving so-"

"She's not leaving. She is still sleeping though."

"She told me if Jack didn't talk to her by this morning, she was headed back to Boston."

"I changed my mind Rizzo. I can't leave you guys just because Jack is being a jerk," Maddie said, walking over to the open door. Rizzo beamed, happy to hear that she was staying. "You guys are like family. And after my parents find out about the baby, you guys will be the closest thing to family I have left."

Maddie faked a smile at her last comment, to show the boys she was kidding. Somehow though, she wasn't sure herself if she was joking. Her parents hated Jack before she was pregnant, and now there was no telling what they would do. As the three went inside to have pancakes, she pushed these thoughts to the back of her mind.

Three hours later, everyone was ready to leave for Europe. They wouldn't be back until September 18th. Jack knew he had to talk to Maddie. He still didn't know what to say, other than he doesn't deserve to be forgiven. Over the last two weeks, he was a total jerk. He knew he treated Maddie like dirt. Jack hoped even more that Rizzo was only threatening with Maddie leaving. If Maddie left mad, Jack would never forgive himself.

Looking around, Jack didn't see Maddie anywhere. Everyone was loading the bus to head to the airport, but Maddie was no where to be found. He finally saw Rizzo, carrying bags out to the bus.

"Hey Rizzo. Have you seen Maddie?"

"Yeah," he said, not saying much. Rizzo wanted to make Jack sorry for not talking to her.

"Where is she?" Jack asked urgently.

"I don't know. Why do you care anyway?"

"Because I need to talk to her."

"Her flight was supposed to leave about an hour ago. You should have thought about talking to her before that," Rizzo said annoyed.

"She left?" Jack asked, tons of thoughts racing through his head, and him now wishing he talked to her earlier.

"No. She was going to, but she decided to stay for the team. Her _family_," Rizzo emphasized.

"Thank God," Jack said. "If she would have left, I don't know what I would have done."

"She didn't stay for you, I hope you know. If we weren't here, she would have been gone," Rizzo said, the 'we' referring to the team.

"I know. I'm sorry. I just don't know what's gotten into me lately. I've been such a jerk and " Rizzo cut him off.

"Why don't you tell that to Maddie. I know you've been a jerk. She needs to hear you admit it."

"I will. As soon as I have the chance, I'm apologizing for everything."

"Let me give you a suggestion. Don't wait," Rizzo said smiling, and hitting him on the back, looking to the doors where Maddie just came out.

"Hey Rizzo," Jack said, stopping him before he got on the bus. "Do you think she'll forgive me?"

"Yeah, I think she will," Rizzo said. He turned to get on the bus before Jack stopped him again.

"Rizzo."

"Yeah?" he said turning around.

"Thanks."

Maddie was with Bah and Mac walking out and Jack didn't want to talk to her with them there. He decided to wait until they got to the airport and on the plane. He would talk to her on the bus, but he knew the talk was going to need more than the few minute ride to the airport.

_Hell, even the ten hour flight might not be enough,_ Jack thought.

By the time they were ready to board the plane, Jack was ready to back out of his plan to talk to Maddie. He was going over what he was going to say in his head, but nothing seemed right. Every apology he thought of didn't seem like enough. Jack decided that he would wait until the way home from Norway to talk to her.

Jack ended up being the last to get on the plane because they had started boarding when he was in line at McDonald's. Almost every seat was taken, except for a few in the far back. Knowing he would get sick in the bumpy tail section, he had to take the only other option available. Sitting next to Maddie.

When Maddie saw Jack getting on the plane, she knew there weren't many seats left. She just hoped there were enough for him to not sit with her. For some reason, none of the other guys wanted to sit with her. Now she thought she might know why. It was a set up to get her and Jack sitting together. If they didn't talk, they would be facing ten long hours of silence.

Staring out the window, she pretended not to notice Jack walking through the aisle. When he sat down next to her, she didn't even look over. For the first few minutes, Maddie and Jack avoided each other. Jack looked up and down the aisle, and Maddie's eyes burned through the window. Every minute or so, they would glance in the others direction, turning back before the other noticed. Or so they thought.

Finally Maddie looked over at Jack, who turned to face her. As soon as he did, she turned to face the window again.

"Okay, this is stupid," Jack said. "We can't do this for the next ten hours."

Maddie turned to look at him, not saying anything. She wasn't going to be the first to talk. Jack sighed, getting ready to begin.

"Okay. I'm a jerk. I'm the biggest, most insensitive jerk ever to walk the Earth. I'm also a complete moronic, self-centered idiot who doesn't deserve to live. In fact, I deserve to be kicked hard in the balls, if I had them, then shot in the head, and live just long enough to undergo pain and suffering. The last thing I deserve is forgiveness but I'm going to try anyway. And just to let you know, I completely understand if you never want to talk to me again, and want me to leave you alone. If that's the case, I'll respect your wishes and stay out of your life. However, I really don't want it to come to that. I know I've been the worst boyfriend and soon-to-be father ever in history, but I really want another chance. I can't guarantee I'll ever be a terrific father or boyfriend or whatever, but I'll try."

Maddie started to get teary eyed at Jack's apology. She could tell he meant every word of it. Maddie threw her arms around Jack's neck and buried her face in his shoulder, under his chin.

"I love you," she said, still hugging him, not wanting to let go.

"I love you too, Maddie," Jack said holding her tight. He kissed the top of her head, then pulled her away, feeling the need to say more. "And I really am sorry. You really deserve someone so much better than me," he said smiling a little. "Your parents are right about you being too good for a guy like me."

"No, you're perfect and the only guy I would ever want," Maddie said, smiling back. "You know, I had this whole plan that if you ever came to beg for forgiveness, I would have to 'think about it' and make you suffer a little first and beg some more, but after you said all of that, I completely changed my mind. I love you so much."

"What did I ever to deserve you?"

Maddie just leaned in and kissed Jack passionately, unaware of the crowd looking at them.

When Jack and Maddie heard cheering and clapping erupt, they pulled away and looked at the guys around them.

"Finally," said Rammer.

"Yeah, it's about time that happened," commented Mac.

"I thought we'd have to deal with Jack being a jerk for another five months. I wouldn't have been able to handle it," said Verchota.

"We also got a nice little show," said Buzz, smiling.

"Shut up Buzz," said Jack hitting him.

"Well, you two better keep it G-rated. I don't want to have to separate you guys," said Rizzo, joking.

"We will," said Maddie reassuringly. "I'm not a fan of PDA." Jack turned to kiss Maddie again, and as she kissed him back, Jack continued to deepen the kiss.

"Hey. I thought you weren't a big fan of PDA, Maddie?" said Verchota.

"I wish my girlfriend kissed me like that," Mac said.

"My God, get a room already," Bah spoke up.

Hearing these comments, Jack and Maddie pulled away from each other with Maddie blushing and Jack yelling at the guys to shut up and leave them alone. The guys did as they were told, and turned around and sat back down in their seats.

"So, now that I'm officially forgiven, we need to talk," Jack said.

"Yeah, I know. Where should we start?"

"Well, we could start with another apology from me," Jack suggested.

"What now?"

"I'm sorry that I haven't been there for you. I should have been," said Jack seriously.

"I know. But you're here now, and that's what matters," she said smiling. There was a short pause before Jack continued.

"So, um, like when... I mean, how...um," Jack was trying to ask about the baby, but really didn't know how. Maddie just laughed.

"The baby?"

"Yeah," said Jack, looking kind of embarrassed for not knowing what to say.

"Well, I am about sixteen weeks now, so I'm in my second trimester."

"How did you find out?" Jack asked the question that had been on his mind for weeks.

"Before I left, I realized I missed my period."

"Wait, you've known that long?" Jack asked, shocked.

"Yeah. I was scared to tell you."

"Well, I can see why. I didn't react well."

"Yeah. Anyway, I didn't know until I was in my second month, because I didn't have any symptoms before that. I only had morning sickness twice, and that was after I found out."

"So that morning you were sick, you really weren't?" Jack asked wondering, still confused as to how the whole pregnancy thing worked.

"It was morning sickness, which is why I knew I would feel better later."

Jack still had so many questions. "You've seen a doctor right?" he asked concerned.

"Yeah," said Maddie, wondering what made him think of that.

"Good. So you have all of your vitamins and you know the baby's healthy?"

"Yeah, everything's normal so far," said Maddie, still clearly confused. Jack noticed and explained.

"Even though I haven't been there for you, I've been watching out for you. I told Rizzo to make sure you went to the doctor's." Maddie's smile didn't go unnoticed by Jack. She was really impressed.

"How did you find out I needed to go to the doctors?"

"I have my ways," he said, a smile playing on his lips. "So is it a boy or girl?" he said seriously.

"I don't know yet. I kind of want to be surprised, but it's too soon to tell right now anyway."

"I can't believe I'm going to be a dad," Jack said, somewhat excitedly.

"Yeah, it's starting to sink in, but I still can't believe it."

"I know." Both were silent for a few minutes, until Maddie got the courage to ask Jack the question that had been bugging her.

"Are you mad about it?" asked Maddie.

"About what? The baby?"

"Yeah," Maddie said in a barely audible voice.

"Well, to be completely honest, I was at one point, sort of. When you first told me, I was so shocked and angry. But then, I started thinking more about it, it wasn't like I was completely thrilled, but I wasn't upset either."

"Okay," said Maddie, glad to hear he wasn't upset.

"And, although it may have seemed like it, I was never mad at you. I was angry with myself. And after I was such a jerk to you, I didn't know how to talk about it. I didn't want to admit that I'm scared out of my mind."

"Hey, don't worry. I'm scared too. But we'll get through it. I was just so scared I would lose you because of the baby."

"I know, I'm sorry. I wish I would have been there," Jack said sadly.

"You didn't miss much. Nothing exciting has happened yet."

"When are you due?"

"Well, that's a bit of a problem. I'm due on Valentine's Day. Which is during the Olympics."

"But you might have the baby earlier or later, right?" Jack asked, hopeful.

"Well, I was actually talking to the doctor about being induced, or scheduling a C-section for right before the Olympics. I'll find out more as it gets closer."

"Okay. And who have you told?"

"No one really. Everyone on the team found out. And Herb, Doc, and Craig know. That's about it."

"Coach knows?"

"Yeah, I had to tell him. He respected the fact that I told him and he wants me to stay and work as long as I want to. We've talked a few times the past couple weeks."

"Really?"

"Yeah. About you, the team, you know, things like that."

"Wait, you've talked about me?" Jack asked, sounding somewhat worried.

"Nothing bad. It was just about how you reacted and how coach thinks your game has improved because of it."

"He does?"

Maddie nodded in response.

"You haven't told your parents?"

"No way. They'd flip out. They already hate you. If I had to tell them we weren't talking, let's just say it wouldn't have gone over well."

"Yeah. We should probably tell them soon though."

"Yeah. Let's tell your family first."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. They won't be as upset as my parents. At least they like me."

"Are you kidding? They love you. Half the time, my mom treats you better than me and Erin." Jack said with a smile.

"When should we tell them?"

"How about soon? We can call them when we get back. I would say let's wait until we see them, but considering that might not be for a while, it's probably better to tell them soon and over the phone."

"Okay. Whatever you think."

After Jack and Maddie talked for a while longer about the baby, Verchota asked if they wanted to play a game of cards. They played some poker and Maddie won a few games. She knew that Jack had let her win one of the games, but she didn't say anything. Everyone stayed pretty entertained for the remainder of the flight between talking, eating, playing cards, and Maddie and Jack napping, but they were all anxious to land.

Ten hours later, the plane finally landed in Holland. It was only seven in the morning there, because of the long flight and time difference. No one slept on the way there, with the exception of Jack and Maddie, so everyone was tired. The jet lag made it worse. Since they weren't playing for another twelve hours, there was enough time to rest at the hotel.

Even though Maddie had her own room, she hoped to stay with Jack. Jack was paired with Mac and Mark Johnson. The three guys were looking for their room with Maddie following close behind.

"I'm so tired. I can't wait to get in that bed and sleep," Mac said.

"Well, it's only seven in the morning, you have at least nine hours until you have to be up," Maddie pointed out.

"That's good because I'm exhausted and I plan on not moving a muscle once I get in bed," Mark said.

"Speaking of beds, whose sleeping on the pull out?" Mark asked. Each room had two beds with either one or two pull out mattresses. Their room happened to have one pull out.

"We could either do it fair by a game like rock, paper, scissors, or we could fight for it."

"I'm all for just falling on the floor and sleeping. As long as I can sleep, I don't care if it's outside on the hard ground," Mark said.

"Well, then if you don't care, I guess you get the pull out mattress," Mac said.

"You don't need to worry about that," Jack started. "I plan on being somewhere else. If you remember, I slept on the way here." The guys knew he was referring to Maddie's room.

"If I let you in my room," Maddie said joking.

"It's really not fair that you get your own room, Maddie," Mac said.

"Yeah, but she's the only girl. Herb wouldn't make her share with one of us," Mark said.

"Right. Besides, now I do have a roommate," Maddie said, looking at Jack.

"Wouldn't Herb have figured that you two would be sharing a room? Why would he give OC a room with the guys at all?" Mac wondered out loud.

"Because of the whole 'we're a team' thing, Mac. Herb wants us to bond and unite and stuff. I mean, why else would he put me and you together?" Jack said.

"But we get along okay now," Mac pointed out.

"Yeah, but we're still all supposed to be hanging out as a team."

"Will Herb care that you ditched us when he finds out?" Mark wondered.

"I don't plan on telling him. Do you?" Jack said.

"No."

"Then I guess he'll never know. And what he doesn't know, won't hurt."

Mac and Mark wet into their room, while Jack and Maddie continued walking down the hall to Maddie's room.

Ten minutes later, Jack and Maddie were in Maddie's bed, glad to be in each others arms.

"This won't hurt the baby, right?" Jack asked, referring to their future activities.

"No. In a few more months this might be slightly uncomfortable for me, but we won't hurt the baby."

"Good."

"What's good? That we can still have sex, or the baby won't get hurt?" Maddie asked, laughing.

An hour later, Jack knew he was definitely forgiven, and now Maddie was fast asleep. Jack watched Maddie's chest rise and fall as she slept, slowly drifting off himself. He was so happy to have Maddie in his arms again.

A/N: I hope you all liked it! Hopefully you're happy that Jack and Maddie are finally okay again. Next update will be later this week.


	11. Chapter 11

Emador: Glad you liked it! There will be more drama later, but for the next few chapters, it will be a lot of fun stuff. Thanks for the review!

Meadow567: Thanks for the review. I'm glad you liked it!

Nelliebly413672: Yeah, Jack finally stopped being an ass. I'm glad you liked it and thanks for reviewing!

surfer-kel: I'm glad you liked his apology speech. I had to make Maddie forgive him, because I couldn't stand them fighting anymore. I like writing fluff too! Thanks for the review!

Flowers781: So many questions... but I don't think I want to answer any, yet. But you are onto something with a few things. :) You'll find out about the parents flipping this chapter. (Well, actually you'll only find out whether Jack's parents flip. Maddie won't tell her parents for a few more chapters.) Thanks for reviewing, I'm glad you liked it!

Lien-Wan: Thank you! It means a lot to me that you like reading it and you like it,and thanks for taking the time to review! And I'm glad you're happy that Jack finally stopped being an idiot.

A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews! I hope you all like this one too. I am going on vacation in a few days (Tuesday), so just to let you know, there will only be one or two more updates before I leave. I wanted to let you all know so you wouldn't think I disappeared or something, lol. Enjoy the chapter and please review!

Chapter 11

September 17, 1979

After two weeks of traveling Europe and playing hockey, it was almost time to leave. There were only two more games in Norway before they went back to Minnesota. The team did well so far, and only lost two of the eight games. Everyone was very relieved it was almost over, even Herb. They were all sick of sleeping in hotels and tired from the traveling, especially the guys on the team. The night of the second last game, it definitely showed.

At seven o'clock, the puck was dropped. To say the boys weren't ready for the game was an understatement. They were playing worse than they had so far, even though the score was tied. Anyone watching the game wouldn't have a clue that the guys have been practicing for a few months and playing games for the last two weeks. Maddie knew they should be beating this team, and from the look on Herb's face, he thought so too.

It didn't help that some guys thought checking out girls would be more worth their time. Maddie just hoped Herb wouldn't notice. _Too late,_ Maddie thought as Herb looked at the guys talking about the girls.

The buzzer sounded, ending the game, but Maddie had a feeling the team would get a long talking to. She was surprised when Herb told everyone to get back on the ice.

The guys followed his orders and got on the line. They knew what was coming, lots of Herbies, but nothing could have prepared them for forty-five minutes of them. Craig blew the whistle again and again, skating the boys hard.

_Sure, they deserve some punishment, _thought Maddie, _but this is excessive. _Maddie thought the guys would be done for sure when the rink manager turned off the lights, but Herb wasn't ready to go yet.

"Everybody, get back on that line!" Herb yelled angrily. The guys again followed his orders as Herb continued to skate them. Maddie was getting worried. They all looked like they were about to collapse.

"Again!" Herb yelled. Craig hesitated and Herb told him to blow the whistle. Doc was getting fed up too. No one except Herb seemed to see the point in skating the team that much. Maddie didn't know how much longer she could take watching them.

"Again!" Herb yelled this time with more force than before. Before Craig blew the whistle, Rizzo interrupted him.

"Mike Eruzione, Winthrop, Massachusetts!" he yelled between breaths.

"Who do you play for?" Herb asked.

"I play for," he took a breath, struggling to get the words out, "the United States of America."

"That's all gentlemen," Herb said walking away.

Maddie ran out onto the ice, wanting to make sure everyone was okay. Most of the guys were trying to get their breathing back at a normal rate. Others collapsed on the ice and made no effort to move. She got to Jack first.

"Baby, are you okay?"

"I will be," Jack said hunched over and breathing heavy. "Just give me a year or two." Maddie smiled. Even in the worst situations, Jack would do his best to make her smile. She went to check on Rizzo next.

"Hey." He looked up with an exhausted look on his face. "How did you know that's what Herb wanted to hear?"

"I didn't. But after skating us that much, I knew he wanted someone to do something, and that seemed right."

"Well, great job. I think everyone will be thanking you."

"Yeah, as soon as they can breathe enough to talk." Maddie left Rizzo and checked on some other guys.

"Maddie, I hope you're not too tired tonight," Buzz said.

"Well, not tired at all compared to how you guys must feel."

"Good, cause you're going to have a long line tonight," he said, referring to massages.

By the time the guys all managed to get changed, most were too tired to even stick around for massages. They all just went back to the bus and slept until they arrived at the hotel.

The next day, the guys played Norway again, this time shutting them out and winning nine to nothing. Everyone was happy to be flying back to Minnesota the next day, no matter how early they had to be up.

That morning, Maddie woke up to see Jack already awake and looking at her. She smiled and yawned.

"How long have you been up?"

"Not long. Only a few minutes," Jack replied.

"What were you doing?"

"Watching my amazing girlfriend sleep," he replied, smiling. Maddie blushed and Jack continued. "You looked so beautiful and peaceful."

"What time is it?"

"Ten to eight."

"You do realize we have to be on the bus in an hour right?"

"Yeah, we've got time." Jack leaned closer to her, kissing her temple and then sat up and leaned over her. He pulled the down the covers so they were no longer covering her stomach and softly rubbed it. He slid the Boston University hockey shirt up that she was wearing and leaned down. Jack gently kissed Maddie's stomach and she smiled.

"How's my little baby doing today?" Jack asked softly, talking to Maddie's still flat stomach. Maddie laughed at this sight. She never thought in a million years he would do that. It was a totally different side of him, and one that Maddie didn't see very often.

"Jack, I hate to break up your bonding session with our baby, but we really need to get ready." That being said, Jack immediately went back to his normal self.

"Okay fine. Let's go take a shower," he said, with Maddie immediately knowing what he was trying to do. Jack grabbed her hand, pulling her up off of the bed.

"Jaaack. We need to get ready," Maddie said in protest.

"I know," he said, kissing her quickly. "Which is why taking a shower together makes sense. We'll go faster that way."

"No, you'll just get distracted."

A knock on the door then distracted them both. Jack went to answer it, and Maddie took this chance to get in the shower before he was finished talking to whoever was at the door.

"Hey guys," Jack said to Mac and Mark. "What's going on? I'm surprised to see you here this early."

"We're hungry and going to get breakfast. You and Maddie want to come?"

"Are you leaving now?"

"In a few minutes. We're seeing who else wants to go with us."

"Sure. I'm hungry. Where are you going?"

"There's a little place across the street. The hotel's restaurant downstairs doesn't have anything good."

"Give us fifteen minutes and we'll go with you," Jack said, knowing Maddie would probably be hungry.

"Okay."

Jack thinking Maddie was hungry was an understatement. She ate more than anyone else there. Almost everyone there got scrambled eggs with toast and bacon. The portions were big and very filling. Hardly any of the guys finished their breakfast because they were in a hurry. As soon as they got the bill, they paid quickly because they were supposed to be on the bus in five minutes.

"Jack?" Maddie said just before they were ready to leave.

"Yeah?"

"Are you going to eat that?" she asked, pointed to the remaining piece of bacon.

"No." No sooner were the words out of his mouth than Maddie took it and ate it.

"Hungry?" Rizzo asked.

"I was starving," Maddie said smiling, her mouth still full of bacon.

"Want the rest of this toast?" asked Bah.

"Yeah, can I?" Bah handed it to her and she ate that too. Buzz offered her some leftover toast, and she ate that as well. The guys were looking at her like she was crazy.

"What? I'm hungry and eating for two," she said smiling, explaining herself. The guys laughed.

"You're like a bottomless pit Maddie," Mac commented.

"No, she's like Rizzo when he has a plate of meatballs," Jimmy said, making everyone laugh harder.

The flight seemed longer on the way home than the way there, but they ended up finally landing in Minnesota at one in the afternoon. Herb gave the guys the rest of the day off. Most were too tired to do anything, so they hung around the dorms. Maddie made homemade pizza for dinner, and everyone stopped by her room for some. When Mac showed up, Maddie was surprised to see a girl with him.

"Hey Maddie, I hope you don't mind, but I brought my girlfriend, Laura."

"No, I don't mind. Nice to meet you," Maddie said, shaking her hand. Laura was a typical blonde. She was tall and thin, but Maddie didn't think she was all that pretty. The other guys seemed to think she was all right looking though. Laura's extremely short skirt made her legs appear even longer, and her tight shirt helped to show off her chest and flat stomach.

"Hey Laura," Jack said from across the room. Maddie immediately wondered how Jack knew her, getting a little jealous, but as other guys said hi as well, she figured all the guys knew who she was.

"Do you guys want some pizza?" Maddie asked.

"I'll have some," Mac said.

"No thanks," said Laura. "I had salad a little while ago."

_Salad? _Maddie thought. _No wonder she's so thin._

A half hour later, everyone had finished dinner, and Maddie was in the kitchen cleaning up. Laura and the guys were all in the other room playing drinking games, which Laura had suggested. _Maybe she should have thought of something we all could do, _Maddie thought bitterly, as she couldn't play with them. Then she reasoned,_ It's not like she knows I'm pregnant, though._

"Hey Maddie, can I help with anything?" Laura asked, coming in the kitchen.

"If you want to. But don't feel you have to if you were in the middle of a game or anything." Maddie said.

"I'll dry some dishes," Laura offered.

As they were cleaning the kitchen, it was silent except for the water running and dishes clattering. It wasn't really an awkward silence. The two were just busy putting things away. Once they were done, Maddie thanked Laura and she went back in with the guys. Maddie had really wished Gail could have come tonight, but unfortunately she was already busy. She knew she would have enjoyed Gail's company as opposed to Laura's, who wasn't Maddie's favorite person to be around.

Later that night, after everyone had left, Jack and Maddie they were sitting on his bed, relaxing. They enjoyed the comfortable silence. Maddie began thinking about the baby and everything she had to do over the next few months. Jack brought her out of her thoughts.

"Ready?" he asked. Maddie knew exactly what he was referring to. She had just been putting it off.

"I guess."

"My parents won't be mad. Trust me. Maybe a little shocked, but not upset." Jack was almost positive his mother would be excited. After all, Jack told her that he bought Maddie an engagement ring, so it wasn't as if he wasn't going to marry her.

"You're lying," Maddie said. "You're only saying that to make me feel better. I mean, we're not married. You're in the Olympics, I'm ruining your life, and they won't be happy, so don't give me that."

"Stop that right now," Jack said, raising his voice. "You are not ruining my life. Never, ever, say that." Maddie didn't look at him, and Jack turned her around in his arms so she was now facing him. "Hear me? Don't ever say that."

"I just don't want your parents to flip out."

"They won't. Let's just call." Jack picked up the phone and handed it to Maddie, then got up to get the other phone so they could be on at the same time. As Jack guessed, his mother answered.

"Hey Mom," Jack started.

"Jack! How are you?"

"I'm good. We just got back from Europe. Maddie's on too."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Hi Maddie. How are you?"

"I'm okay, Mary, how are you?" she answered, using Mrs. O'Callahan's first name. Jack's parents insisted that Maddie call them by their first names, Dan and Mary.

"What's wrong?" Mary asked, concerned, thinking something was wrong due to Maddie's answer of 'okay.'

"First let's talk about the games Jack played so well in," Maddie suggested.

"How was it?"

"Well, for the most part, it went pretty well," Jack answered. "I'd rather not talk about the first Norway game though. That was pretty bad. How about we talk about the real reason we called?" Jack said. Maddie shot him a look across the room to where he was standing.

"Okay," Jack's mother said a little too happily. Jack had a feeling he knew what his mother was expecting to hear. Since she knew that he was planning on proposing after the games, he was guessing that she thought he did it early.

"Can you put dad on too?" Jack asked very seriously. Sensing his serious tone, Jack's mother knew she wasn't going to hear what she first expected.

"Okay sure."

A minute later, Jack's dad was on the phone too. After saying hello, Jack was ready to get to the point. Maddie was too. She felt like if it went on much longer, she would throw up. Her stomach was doing flip flops in anticipation of the conversation that was about to take place.

"Mom, Dad. We have something to tell you." After a short pause Jack continued. "Maddie's pregnant."

"What!" exclaimed Jack's mom, clearly shocked. Jack's dad didn't say anything.

"We're having a baby."

"Oh my God! I don't believe it!" Mary went on.

"You're pregnant?" said Dan.

"Yeah," said Jack, answering for Maddie.

"Oh my God!" said Jack's mom again, still trying to comprehend what Jack said.

"How far along are you?" asked Jack's dad.

"Eighteen weeks," Maddie answered.

"That's almost half way!" said Jack's mom. "You must have known a long time."

"Yeah, I guess," Maddie admitted. Maddie was worried about what Jack's parents thought. Mary seemed to be sort of excited, but Dan really hadn't said anything.

"Have you picked out names yet?" Jack's mother asked.

"No, we really haven't talked much about the baby yet," Maddie said, accidentally. She knew right away what his parents would assume.

"You've probably had at least fifteen weeks or so to talk," Mary started. Maddie immediately covered for Jack.

"Yeah but with all of the practices and games, we've been so busy."

"Maddie, don't cover it up," Jack started. "The truth is, I was a complete idiot for a couple weeks and I didn't take it so well. After I got over myself though, we have been really busy."

"Jack, can I talk to you alone for a minute?" his dad asked.

"Sure, Maddie will hang up now." Maddie hung up the phone, but continued to listen to the one side of the conversation.

"Yes dad . . . yeah I know . . . no . . . I know dad . . . okay . . . I'm fine . . . yeah, actually, it's sort of exciting . . . okay, I will . . . thanks, you too . . . "

When Maddie heard Jack say he was excited, a big smile spread across her face. She wasn't totally sure he was referring to the baby, but that's what she was guessing. Jack started talking again, this time to his mother.

"Hi mom . . . yeah . . . I'm treating her fine . . . don't worry, I'm not being a jerk anymore . . . " Jack smiled and looked at Maddie, "yeah . . . she thought you guys would be pissed . . . no, I will . . . mom, not now . . . yes soon . . . I can't talk to you about this anymore . . . mom, Maddie's sitting right here . . . okay . . . here she is . . . love you too, bye."

Jack finished his conversation and told Maddie to pick up the other phone.

"Hi Mary."

"Congratulations, sweetie!"

"Thanks."

"I just wanted to let you know that I'm not angry. I'm surprised, very surprised, but not upset."

"Thanks Mary. I just thought with me and Jack not being married, and everything, that you and your husband would be upset."

"Well, in any other situation I would be, but Jack already told me . . . " Mary stopped suddenly, and Maddie thought it seemed like Mary almost said something Maddie wasn't supposed to know. Maddie quickly dismissed the thought as Mary continued on again. "I'm just so excited to be a grandmother."

"Well, I'm glad you're not angry."

"I can't wait to go shopping for the baby. Keep me updated on everything. And make sure Jack gets you whatever you want. He should be waiting on you hand and foot."

"Thanks, Mary. I'll keep that in mind," Maddie said, laughing.

"Okay. Keep me updated on everything."

"I will."

"Thanks. I'll talk to you soon."

"Okay, Bye." Maddie hung up the phone and Jack came over to sit on the bed. He started rubbing Maddie's back and then wrapped her in a hug.

"See. I told you they would take it well."

"Is your dad mad?" Maddie wondered. He didn't say much on the phone, so Maddie didn't know if he was upset.

"No, that's what we were talking about. He's not mad at you, because he assumed it was my fault. Which it was."

"It wasn't your fault, Jack."

"Well, it wasn't yours either."

"We're both in this together. And we were both there."

"Fine, so it's both of our faults. But anyway, he thought that it was my fault because I pressured you or something. He also assumed that I would do something stupid and leave you."

"Oh, okay," Maddie said somewhat assured. Now that Jack's parents knew, the only thing left was telling her parents. Maddie knew that wouldn't go nearly as well.

A/N: Hope you liked it. I love reviews, like I've said before. They're greatly appreciated and the more I get, the sooner I will post the next chapter, which means the more chapters I will post before I go away. :)


	12. Chapter 12

Flowers781: You'll find out soon which parts you're onto. Notice I said parts. :) I wanted Jack's parents to take it okay, especially his mom, because she knows about the proposal. And if you liked her eating like a horse, it gets better because more issues come up with her being pregnant. (Think hormones, lol.) Now onto Laura. You'll find out more about her later, although she is mentioned in this chapter. Glad you liked it and thank you for the review.

Nelliebly413672: Thanks for the review. I'm glad you liked it. I like to make Jack say cute things like that, because even though he seems to be a total cocky, hot shot in the movie, he needs to have a sensitive side too, which comes out around Maddie. Hope you like this chapter too. :)

Emador: Thanks, I'm glad you liked the chapter and the scene with Jack's parents. This chapter, Laura is still that 'type' that you're talking about. Next chapter, you'll find out why she is the way she is. Maybe you'll even change your mind a little about her... Anyway, thatnks for the review, and I hope you enjoy this one.

Meadow567: Well, sorry to say this, but you're going to have to wait a little longer. It won't happen this chapter, Maddie's going to procrastinate a bit longer. (Can you really blame her though?)

A/N: Here's another for you! I don't own anything, like I've said before. This isn't one of my favorite chapters, but I wanted to start to fix some issues between some people, (Silky and Maddie, cough, cough,) before the drama that's going to be coming up. I also wanted to add a little more Laura, cause she's sort of important next chapter. Enjoy and please review!

Chapter 12

September 18, 1979

The next night, the guys decided to go to the bar for a while. Jack, Rizzo, Silky, Mac, and Maddie were the first ones there. Maddie had decided to go because Buzz promised to bring Gail. She wanted to tell her about the baby.

"Mac, where's Laura tonight?" Silky asked.

"She's busy or something."

"Oh, I was kind of hoping she'd come. She was pretty entertaining the other night."

"If you think she was entertaining the other night . . . well, let's just say there are times she's even _more_ entertaining," Mac said with a smirk.

"Just make sure you use protection," Silky started. "OC didn't, and we all know where that leaves him." There was an awkward silence at the table after Silky said this. No one knew what to say, but Silky soon continued. "Unless it was Maddie's fault for not using birth control." Another awkward silence followed, and this time, Jack spoke up.

"Silky, stop talking."

"What? Oh, did you forgive Maddie?"

"Forgive me for what?" Maddie asked, looking at Jack.

"Yeah, for what?" Jack asked Silky.

"Stopping the birth control."

"What?" asked Maddie.

"Nothing. Silky's just being stupid," Jack said, giving Silky a warning look. Maddie caught onto what they were talking about.

"Silky, I didn't stop using the birth control. Is that what you thought?" Maddie asked Silky. She turned to Jack. "Jack, is that what you thought?"

"No," he answered quickly. "I never said that. Silky thought that maybe you stopped taking them or whatever, but I told him he was wrong."

"Why would I stop taking them?"

"A few weeks ago, I told him you were pregnant and he just thought that maybe...never mind. Let's not talk about this anymore," said Jack. He knew where the conversation would end up, and he didn't want to go there.

"Wait. _You_ told him?" Maddie asked. "I thought he found out that night at the bar."

"No, he knew before that," Jack said, looking somewhat confused.

"You did?" Maddie asked, turning to Silky. "Then why did you give me rum and coke that night at the bar?" Silky didn't answer so Maddie continued. "Pregnant women aren't supposed to have alcohol, you idiot! You could have hurt the baby. You're such a jerk!" Maddie yelled and stood up.

"A little tiny sip, which you didn't even swallow, won't hurt. You spit it right out," Silky yelled back.

"I don't care. I could have swallowed it. You're such an asshole," Maddie yelled louder, walking over to him. It looked like she was about to slap or punch him. However, Jack stopped her before she did by grabbing her arm.

"All right. Let's stop arguing," Jack said. "Maddie, Gail's here." Maddie looked over to the door, where she saw Gail and the coneheads walking in. Maddie decided to drop it with Silky for now, but she planned on finishing the conversation later. Making a scene would get them no where.

"Hey Gail," Maddie said, waving to her.

"Hey Maddie," she said, taking the seat next to her. "How was Europe?"

"Great! Well, other than the Norway game."

"Yeah, Buzz told me how tough Herb was on them."

"Luckily no one got hurt."

"It's a good thing I wasn't there. I would have been on the ice, kicking Herb's ass for pushing them so hard."

The girls continued talking and catching up, while the guys started a game of pool. Maddie's thoughts kept drifting to Silky, and why he was always acted like a jerk to her. She started thinking that Silky didn't like her much, but she couldn't figure out why.

"So what else is new?" Gail asked Maddie. She smiled before answering.

"Well, I'm pregnant."

"Oh my God! Congratulations! How far along are you?"

"Almost twenty weeks."

"It doesn't show at all," Gail said, looking at her stomach. "I had no idea."

"Well, most of the guys found out right before Europe. I thought Buzz might have mentioned something."

"No. He didn't tell me." Gail paused for a minute, then continued. "I can't wait to have a baby, but we've decided to wait a little longer."

"It's pretty exciting," Maddie admitted.

"I bet. After the Olympics, hopefully we'll start a family," Gail said talking about her and Buzz.

"Yeah, this was quite a surprise for me. But I guess it's becoming a welcomed surprise."

Maddie and Gail continued talking about the baby for a while longer. The guys had finished playing pool and were ready to leave, but Maddie and Gail were still chatting.

"Wow, those two don't stop talking," said Buzz.

"Yeah. I'm glad Maddie has a girl to talk to though," said Jack. "I can only take so much."

"Ready, baby?" Buzz asked Gail, interrupting the girl's conversation.

"Yeah," Gail said, then turned back to Maddie. "Okay, so tomorrow night, like 6:00?"

"Yep."

"Where are you two going?" Jack asked.

"We're having a girl's night. Gail's coming over and we're watching Grease and other chick flicks and eating popcorn all night."

"Sounds like fun."

"Wanna come?" Gail said, though she was joking.

"I'll pass. I meant it sounds like fun for the two of you."

"Well, that's okay. You wouldn't be allowed to come anyway," Gail said.

"Why?" Jack asked.

"It's called a _girl's_ night for a reason," Maddie said.

"Yeah. We need some time to talk about the men in our life without them around," Gail said.

"Yeah. You need to tell each other about how amazing we both are, right?" Buzz said, referring to him and Jack.

"Sure, honey," Gail said sarcastically.

When Jack and Maddie got back to Maddie's room that night, she climbed into bed right away. Lately, she had been really tired. Before falling asleep, she asked Jack about Silky.

"Okay. Something's been bugging me all night," Maddie said, sitting up against the headboard in bed.

"What is it?" Jack asked, climbing into bed next to her.

"Does Silky not like me?"

"He likes you," Jack said, though clearly not convincing.

"No he doesn't. And I think you know why."

"Okay fine. I guess you're not his favorite person."

"Why?"

"He thinks you're too perfect and nice all the time. If you ask me though, I think there must be another reason, because his seems pretty stupid."

"Am I too nice?" Maddie wondered out loud.

"Well, I guess he had a point when he said you never yell or get mad. But after you yelled at him tonight, I don't know how he can think that. If I didn't stop you, he would have gotten beat."

"Well, I see you fighting in games all the time. I decided that it looked like so much fun, I'd try it myself. I guess you're a pretty bad influence on me."

"Aren't you a funny one," Jack said, playfully elbowing her.

"Seriously, though. How can I not be nice to him? I'm a nice person."

"Don't worry about it," Jack said, exasperated.

"But I want him to like me."

"Maddie, who cares if he likes you or not? He's only one person."

"But I like being liked."

"I know, but you have to realize that not everyone is going to like you."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Maddie said, though still thinking about Silky and why he didn't like her.

"Let's go to sleep." Jack laid down and turned off the light, as Maddie settled in next to him. "I love you."

"Love you, too," Maddie said. They shared a chaste kiss before closing their eyes and falling asleep.

September 27, 1979

Two weeks later, the team was at the bar again. Maddie wasn't there that night, because she thought the guys could use a night out alone. Even though they loved having her company, she felt bad being around all the time.

When Jack got back a little after midnight, Maddie asked him how it was.

"Great. Now I'm exhausted though."

"Oh." Maddie secretly hoped he would have said something like, 'it's better with you there,' but he didn't. Minutes later, Jack rolled into bed, kissed Maddie goodnight and closed his eyes. Maddie just watched him for a few minutes. Jack opened his eyes to look at her.

"What?" he asked, smiling.

"Did the guys miss having me there or anything?"

"Yeah, at first they were all saying they wished you were with us. But they got over it."

"So you had fun without me?"

"Yeah, but it wasn't the same as when you're there."

"Right, without me, you can talk about whatever guy stuff you want."

"Yeah, but Laura came so we really couldn't."

"Laura came?" Maddie asked, slightly annoyed, though Jack didn't seem to notice.

"Yeah. She got so drunk. It was hysterical. I bet she won't remember any of the stupid things she did. Which is probably a good thing."

"Oh." Jack noticed Maddie's disappointment this time.

"Sorry you didn't come?"

"Yeah. I only stayed here to give you guys 'guy time,' but apparently you didn't have that anyway."

"Don't worry about it."

"Do you think the guys like her better than me?"

"No, why would you think that?"

"Because, Silky always says how fun she is. Laura drinks, she's blonde, skinny, has fun . . . and I'm just boring."

"Maddie, you're not boring."

"But I'm pregnant and can't have as much fun."

"Maddie, Laura may be fun, but that's it. You could never be replaced. The guys think you're great. Even if they think Laura's great, it's in different ways. And, for the record, no one could ever replace you in my life," Jack said, kissing her.

"Thanks," said Maddie when the kiss broke.

"It's true. There really is no need for the green-eyed monster to make an appearance." Maddie laughed.

"I'm not jealous." Jack looked at her skeptically. "Okay, maybe a little," she admitted.

September 28, 1979

All through practice the next day, Maddie could barely sit still. Today was the day of her sonogram. As soon as Herb let the guys off the ice, Maddie went to the locker room. She hoped Jack would be ready to go soon. To her surprise, he was already waiting outside the locker room for her.

"Ready, baby?" he asked.

"You bet. We finally get to see our little baby!"

"I know," Jack said smiling.

When Jack and Maddie arrived at the doctors office, they only had to wait five minutes before they were called in. Maddie's doctor was Doctor Warner, an older man, who was friends with Doc.

"Well, it looks like everything is fine, Maddie. You're doing wonderfully and the baby is great as well. The heartbeat is 150, right where it should be. Would you like to know the sex?" Doctor Warner asked.

"I think we've decided to be surprised," Maddie said answering for her and Jack. She glanced at Jack for approval and he nodded his head in agreement.

"Okay, well are you ready to see your baby?"

Jack and Maddie both nodded their heads, and Jack took Maddie's left hand and intertwined their fingers.

"There's its head," to doctor said, pointing to the screen. "And there are the hands. And down there are the baby's legs."

Both were in awe of the screen. Neither could believe that was actually their baby.

"Oh my God, it's perfect," said Maddie, tears of joy forming in her eyes.

"I can't believe that's our baby!" Jack said, excitement evident in his voice.

"Pretty soon you can expect to feel the baby kicking and moving," Doctor Warner told them.

"Can we have a copy of this?" Maddie asked, referring to the picture.

"Sure. But the picture will be better next time you come in, in November, so you'll be better off waiting until then."

"Okay. Thanks, Doctor Warner."

Jack and Maddie left the doctor's office hand in hand. They were both incredibly happy and excited about the baby.

The next morning, Maddie had the perfect opportunity to talk to Silky about why he didn't like her. Jack left for practice before Maddie was ready, and when Maddie left her dorm, Silky was leaving his room too. Over the past week, the situation with him still bothered Maddie a little. She wanted to make sure everything was okay between them. Right now, she didn't even think Silky considered her a friend, but she wasn't too sure.

"Hey Silky."

"Hey Maddie."

"How are you this morning?"

"Pretty good."

"Can we talk?"

"We're talking now." Maddie rolled her eyes.

"That's not what I mean. I want to know what you have against me."

"I don't have anything against you."

"Jack told me you hate that I'm nice."

"Look. I don't hate you. Yeah, I think you're a little too nice at times, but I'm getting used to it," Silky said as he kept walking.

"Then why do you do things like give me rum and coke when you know I can't drink alcohol," Maddie said, walking quickly, trying to keep up with him.

"I just find it amusing to make you feel uncomfortable."

"I don't mean to be perfect and nice all the time."

"Maddie, if it was real I wouldn't mind so much. But I know you don't really like me either. If you didn't pretend to like me, I wouldn't be a jerk."

"I like you. I've always considered you a friend. I don't _pretend_ to like you. I _do_ like you. And I'm a genuinely nice person most of the time. I can't help it. Pleasing people is part of who I am. What makes you think it's not real?"

"Remember that time two years ago, about a year after we met? When I was dating your roommate, Angela? She broke up with me because of what you told her."

_March 1978_

"_Dave, I think we should stop seeing each other."_

"_Why, Ang? I thought things were great between us."_

"_It was fun, but you're not really my type."_

"_Why the sudden change? Last night I was your 'type'."_

"_Look, I've been hearing things and now I think otherwise."_

"_Hearing things? From who?"_

"_It doesn't matter. But the point is, I don't want to be with someone who has slept with half the girls on campus."_

"_Who told you that?"_

"_I told you. It doesn't matter."_

"You think I told her that you slept with half the girls on campus?" Maddie asked incredulously.

"Well, you walked up to us right after, and later on I found out that Angela told you all about our conversation."

"I never told her anything. Personally, I thought you guys made a really cute couple. I was sad to see you break up."

"You were?" Silky said in disbelief.

"Yeah."

"So if you didn't tell her then who did?"

"I don't know."

"Oh."

"Is that why you're holding some sort of grudge against me?"

"Well, sort of, I guess."

"Wow. All these years I thought we were friends, and find out you never really liked me. That makes me feel great."

"Maddie, I'm sorry. I really thought that you told her. If it's any consolation, it probably wouldn't have been any different if I didn't think you told her. That was just another reason to not like you."

"How can I get you to like me?" Maddie asked. Silky just laughed.

"Maddie, you try too hard. Just stop trying to please everyone."

"Okay," Maddie said hesitantly, though wondering how she would accomplish that.

"Ya know, after I got used to the idea that Jack was dating you, I did start to get used to you too. And if it helps, my views on you change on a daily basis."

"Oh," Maddie said. _That doesn't make me feel much better, _she then thought.

"Some days, I think that you're annoying as hell, and other days, I don't mind you so much."

"Well, I'll keep that in mind," Maddie said, not really knowing how to respond to him. Maddie and Silky were at the locker room door now. "I'm glad we got to talk about this."

"Yeah, sure. Me too," Silky said, walking into the locker room. It wasn't that Silky went out of his way to be a jerk, but he didn't try to be overly nice to Maddie either. Maybe he would start making an effort to be a little nicer. _I guess at times I am a little too nasty, _he thought. Being nice to Maddie would take time though. It wasn't like it would happen overnight.

A/N: Hope you liked it! I am planning on updating once more before I leave. Either late Monday night or Tuesday morning. After that the next update won't be until I get home. It will probably be up sometime Sunday, August, 27. Just a heads up. Anyway, hope you liked the chappy and please review!


	13. Chapter 13

Flowers781: Yeah, Silky's not very nice in this story. I'm glad you liked the sonogram part and everything else! Thank you for the review and I will definitely enjoy my trip. This chapter should hopefully hold you over enough until I get back. I think you'll like it:)

Meadow567: Glad you liked it. Thanks for the review.

Nelliebly413672: Well, you might change your mind about Laura. She does get better. I'm glad you liked it and thanks for the review!

Lien-Wan: That's okay. You don't need to review every chapter. I just appreciate that people review at all. I'm glad you liked it and I hope you like this one too. Thanks for the review.

Emador: You'll find out Laura's story this chapter! Hope you like the chapter and thanks for the review.

A/N: Okay guys. This is the last chapter until I get back. I hope you enjoy. There's a little surprise at the end! (No cliffhanger, I promise.) It's mostly Jack and Maddie. Laura is in it a little bit though. Enjoy and I'll update when I get back!

Chapter 13

October 1, 1979

Saturday morning, Maddie woke up to find Jack's side of the bed empty. It was 9:00, and there was no practice, so she was surprised he wasn't there. Sort of disappointed, she decided to get up and take a shower. Before she got around to getting up though, the door opened and Jack walked in with a plastic bag.

"Hey baby. You're up."

"Yeah, I just woke up. I was wondering where you went."

"I had to go to the store. There was no more maple syrup, or juice." Maddie gave him a funny look, wondering what he was talking about. Jack disappeared into the kitchen area and came back in a minute later with a tray.

"Happy anniversary, baby," Jack said smiling. Maddie smiled and looked really surprised. "You didn't think I'd forget, did you?"

"No but . . . wow. This looks amazing," she said referring to the tray in front of her. Jack made delicious looking pancakes and sausage, completely covered in maple syrup, just the way Maddie liked them. There was a glass of orange juice, a few strawberries, and a dish of extra maple syrup. On the tray was also a vase with a red rose and a card.

"Look good?"

"Yeah, amazing. Thank you baby," Maddie said hugging him.

"You're welcome. I love you."

"I love you too." As Maddie started eating, Jack got his tray and sat next to her, eating his breakfast.

"This is so good," Maddie said with her mouth full. "You shouldn't have made this."

"It was no trouble."

"Maybe not. But now that I know you can cook, I'll make you do it more often," Maddie said laughing.

"I don't think so. You haven't seen the kitchen yet. And trust me, once you see the mess in there, you'll never let me in there, again, let alone to cook."

Maddie leaned over and kissed him. It was a sticky kiss from the syrup, but Jack didn't mind. He only wanted more. Turning to face her, Jack set his tray farther down on the bed. He placed his hands on her cheeks and deepened the kiss. Maddie ran her hands over his chest, kissing him back.

"Wait," she said, wanting to move her almost empty tray. "This is in the way."

Jack took it from her and put both trays on the floor before continuing to kiss her. Their kisses grew more passionate and soon Jack was laying over Maddie, straddling her waist. She tugged at the bottom of his shirt, and pulled it over his head.

Jack continued kissing Maddie's lips and neck hard, making her moan softly. After getting her shirt off, his hands still kept busy, playing with the drawstring of her pajama pants. Jack stopped for a minute and half sat up.

" I have something we could do," he said in a husky voice.

"What?" she asked, playing along.

Jack reached down to the side of the bed where their trays were. He picked up the maple syrup that remained in the extra dish.

"Know how much you like maple syrup?" Jack said, kneeling back up, but still over Maddie's waist. He started to tip the dish so the maple syrup would pour out on her chest and stomach. "Well, I bet _I_ would grow to love it if it was on you."

Maddie giggled in response as she felt the sticky syrup pour over her body. Jack leaned down and ran his tongue gently over her stomach, where the syrup was. They both knew this would end up making a big mess, but at that moment, neither cared too much.

A half an hour later, the syrup was gone and all that remained was a sticky mess on Jack and Maddie, along with the bed sheets.

"Now guess what we have to do?" Jack said.

"Get in the washing machine with the sheets?" Maddie guessed.

"Wash the sticky syrup off of each other and then wash the sheets," Jack said and smiled.

He took Maddie's hand and led her into the bathroom, then turned the water on and stepped in the shower. Once they were finally cleaned off, and done doing some other things, they got out and dried off.

"Can I give you your present now?" Maddie asked Jack.

"Sure. But you're not getting yours until later tonight."

"I get more? I'm starting to think we should celebrate anniversaries more often. Like every month," Maddie joked. "Your present is a little game."

"A game?"

"Yep. A guessing game. If you guess everything right, you get the prize at the end." Maddie walked over to the night stand next to the bed and pulled out a sheet of paper. It had ten clues listed.

"Smelly guys and massages? A mirror? Warm and chewy, with milk in parenthesis?" jack asked, reading a few things off the list. "Maddie, what is this?"

"A scavenger hunt. Those ten clues are clues for the top ten things I love about you. You need to figure out what each reason is, with the help of the clues, and tell me when you figure everything out. Some of the harder ones have more clues in the places the first clue leads to."

"What's my prize?"

"You'll find out if you get those all right."

Jack said that he was going to go out for a while, and start his scavenger hunt. He told Maddie to be ready at five for dinner because he made reservations at a nice restaurant. Maddie was left alone with not much to do, so she decided to pick out her dress for that night.

She had brought a few from Boston just incase she needed them, and now she was glad she did. Trying them on to see which she would wear, Maddie was surprised so find the first one didn't fit. She couldn't get the next two on either. It was then Maddie realized that she was starting to show. Turning sideways in front of the mirror, Maddie saw the little bump of her baby belly.

_Oh my God, I'm getting fat! _she thought, terrified. _And now, none of my dresses fit._

Next Maddie decided to try on her jeans. They were her favorite pair, but she hadn't worn them in a week. To her dismay, Maddie couldn't zip them. Quickly rummaging through her closet and trying on almost everything, Maddie found that almost nothing fit comfortably. She had noticed her clothes feeling a little tight over the last few days, but now it was even worse. Breaking down in tears, Maddie sat on the floor and cried.

A few minutes later, a light knock on Maddie's door got her attention. Wiping her face, Maddie went to see who was there. It was Laura.

"Hey Laura," Maddie said, pretending to be happy to see her.

"Hey. Are you okay? I heard crying and I thought this was your room, so I wanted to make sure everything was okay."

"Uh yeah, thanks. I'm fine though." Laura looked through the open doorway and noticed clothes everywhere. "I was just trying stuff on," Maddie explained.

"Oh. How's the baby?" Laura asked, changing the subject.

"Great. Wait, who told you?" Maddie asked, knowing that she never mentioned the baby to Laura.

"Robbie told me the other day. I hope you don't mind."

"No, not at all." Maddie faked another smile. She wasn't upset that Laura knew about the baby, but Maddie just wanted to be alone.

"Did you need help with something?"

"No. I'm fine," Maddie said, but before she could stop herself, she started tearing up again.

"What's wrong?" Laura asked, putting her arm around Maddie.

"Nothing fits," Maddie said sadly.

"It's okay. You'll probably just need some maternity clothes."

"Yeah. But I need a dress for tonight. Jack and I are going out to celebrate our one year anniversary."

"That's exciting! I'll take you shopping for a dress and some maternity clothes," Laura offered.

In all honesty, Maddie didn't want Laura's help. All she wanted was for Laura to go away and leave her alone. If anyone else offered help, like Gail, she would have gladly accepted, but this was Laura and Maddie didn't think she could out up with her. Especially going shopping with her. Maddie wasn't about to tell Laura that though.

"No, I can't bother you for that," Maddie said. "You probably have better things to do."

"No, I would love to help. It'll be fun. Maybe we can even shop for some baby clothes while we're at it."

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Maddie needed to think of an excuse fast if she wanted to get out of this one.

"Not at all. It'll be fun. Let's go."

"Well, okay," Maddie said reluctantly. _Maybe one afternoon won't be so bad, _Maddie thought, though knowing at the same time that this could be the worst afternoon of her life.

The first few stops the girls made were at regular clothes stores. Laura tried to make conversation, but Maddie tried to talk back as little as possible. She didn't want Laura to get the impression that they were friends.

Maddie found a bunch of clothes that she liked. She didn't need all maternity clothes because normal clothes still fit, but now she just needed bigger sizes. Laura got a few things too. Maddie was surprised that not everything Laura bought was slutty. _Surprise, surprise, she actually has an okay taste in clothes, _thought Maddie.

Next, they went to a few dress stores. At first, Maddie couldn't find anything she liked, to fit. She was ready to give up when she found a pretty black dress. It was a floor length, halter dress, and it had some rhinestones scattered at the top. There was only one size, and Maddie was ecstatic when it fit.

Laura and Maddie stopped for lunch at a pizza place next, and chatted while eating.

"You're really lucky to have a guy like Jack," Laura said.

"That's the first time I've ever heard that."

"Really?"

"When we first started dating, and even now, my friends and especially my family, tell me that I'm going to get hurt. Jack didn't exactly have a great track record with women."

"Well Robbie wasn't like that at first either, and I knew it. Which is why I had no problem with it. I knew our relationship wouldn't last, and I didn't want it to."

"How about now?" Maddie asked. Maddie knew Robbie cared about Laura, even if Maddie knew he could do better. She had no idea what he saw in a girl like her. Maddie often wondered how Laura felt about him, because she didn't seem to care that much.

"It's scary because I'm falling in love with him," Laura admitted. After pausing for a minute, to think about what she said, she added, almost to herself, "Wow. I've never said that out loud before."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that you guys feel the same way about each other," Maddie said. Upon hearing this, Laura smiled.

"Really? He loves me too?" Maddie nodded her head.

"Don't tell him I told you though."

"I just never thought . . . I mean, he's said it, but I didn't realize he actually meant it."

"Well, Robbie didn't tell me he loves you, but I can see it in his eyes when he talks about you."

"Oh. As much as I think I feel the same way, I'm scared. I've never, ever felt that way about someone."

"There's a first time for everything." For the next few minutes, the girls ate their pizza in silence, thinking about the conversation they just had.

"You didn't like me at first did you?" Laura asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah I did," Maddie lied, wondering how Laura ever got that idea. Even though it was true, Maddie wasn't going to admit it. She was actually having fun shopping with Laura, and after spending time with her, Maddie realized that Laura wasn't so bad after all.

"No, you didn't. I may be a blonde, but I'm not stupid. Well, I'm not most of the time," Laura said, laughing.

"Well, I guess you weren't my favorite person," Maddie admitted.

"That's okay. I understand. Girls never like me. My only friends in high school were the stupid cheerleader types. I wanted to be friends with people like you more than anything, but I could never fit in with them. They were all smart and I don't think they would have wanted me to be near them. I was also afraid of ditching my friends because without them, I would have had no one except guys."

"I bet that's not true."

"It is, trust me. And by the time I started college, I had no idea how to be friends with the 'smart kids' so I settled for the same people I hung around in high school. When I met you, I knew you were one of them, and I know you could tell I wasn't anything more than a dumb blonde."

"It's not that you did anything wrong, but I guess I thought your personality was a bit fake."

"I was so jealous of you. The guys all liked you and I knew Robbie did too. He considers you a friend, and I didn't think it was fair. I figured if I hung out with the guys, they would like me too."

"Believe it or not, I was actually jealous of you," Maddie said. "I thought the guys liked you better than me because they always said how fun you were to be around. You also have a very outgoing personality, and I thought the guys preferred that."

"That's ironic."

"Yeah, it kinda is," Maddie agreed. "After today, I like you a lot more though," Maddie assured her. "I guess I just had to get to know you."

"Yeah." Laura said with a smile. "Ready to go buy clothes for the baby?"

"You bet."

Meanwhile, Jack was trying to figure out his scavenger hunt. The first clue being smelly guys and massages, led him to the locker room. In his locker, he found a little note, saying "I shamrock hot shots." The shamrock was actually a little picture of a three-leaf clover. Then he knew the answer to the first one, as he remembered Maddie saying it before. She loved that he was a hot shot hockey player from Boston.

Jack's next clue about a mirror, left him a little confused. He then realized that he was supposed to look in a mirror. Maddie loved his good looks and muscular body.

The warm and chewy with milk clue was next, and Jack spent a few minutes on it. He had no idea so he decided to skip it and come back. He eventually figured out the other things that Maddie loved. One clue was something about a picture, and Jack knew the answer was his smile.

Another answer was his cocky, tough guy personality and hot headedness. Part of that answer was also that he had an ego the size of a hot air balloon.

One of the other answers was his Boston accent. The clue for that was "I love to wauwtch hauwckey." He figured Maddie was trying to phonetically spell that with his accent.

Jack had to admit the clues were all really cute. He knew Maddie out a lot of time into the gift. The tenth clue ended up telling him that she loved everything about him, and would never stop. Jack added a little something to his reason for that and put the sheet away.

After Laura and Maddie were done shopping, Maddie thanked Laura again. She also invited Laura to hang out with her and Gail on the following Wednesday night. Gail and Maddie were having a girl's night again, and Maddie knew Gail wouldn't mind if Laura came too. Laura's face lit up when Maddie asked, and she gladly accepted the offer.

Just before five, Maddie was putting the finishing touches on her makeup when Jack knocked on the door. Maddie answered it and saw him standing in a nice suit with a bouquet of roses. He looked so nice dressed up. Maddie smiled and took the flowers.

"Thank you," she said hugging and kissing him.

"You look incredible. I love your dress," Jack said when they broke apart. Maddie was glad he liked it.

"I bought it just for you."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Well, actually, none of my other dresses fit." Jack stepped back and looked at her stomach. "It's hard to tell with the dress on, but I am getting fatter."

"Well, I guess I'll have to examine that for myself later."

"I think that is an excellent idea."

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah, we're starving," Maddie replied, referring to her and the baby. Jack smiled in response.

The restaurant was on a lake and their table overlooked the water. It was a beautiful view. Jack and Maddie enjoyed their dinner, and decided to get dessert. They ordered a piece of chocolate moose cake to share. When they were waiting for it to arrive, Jack pulled out the scavenger hunt sheet.

He read off the list of reasons Maddie loved him, purposely not mentioning the last one. Jack explained sone of the ways he figured some of the clues out. Maddie thought the warm and chewy one was the funniest. The reason was that Jack loved chocolate chip cookies, especially right out of the oven, just like Maddie. Maddie left milk and cookies in his room, but apparently Jack only saw crumbs. Rizzo had eaten the cookies, not knowing they were for Jack.

"So where's my present?"

"What about the last one?"

"I want to read that after. I got it, but I want my present first."

"Okay fine." Maddie pulled out an envelope and handed it to him. Jack pulled out tickets and his face lit up instantly. Maddie had gotten him four tickets to the Bruins and North Stars game two weeks from now. It was in Minnesota, but Jack had tickets right behind the Bruins bench.

"These are amazing! How did you get them? I love you so much." Maddie was happy Jack liked his present. She could tell he was very excited. "Baby, thank you." Jack got up and kissed her. After he sat down again, Maddie reminded him that he needed to give her the final reason she loved him.

For some reason, Jack suddenly looked almost sick and he didn't respond.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he said, taking a deep breath. "You love everything about me and will never, ever stop." He took another deep breath. "And I will never stop loving you either." He held her left hand with his right hand and then continued.

"Maddie, I know the last couple months haven't been easy, but I just wanted to say that I love you more than anything in the world. I want the two most important people in my life, to be with me no matter what. I had this all planned out for after the Olympics, but with the baby on the way, it seems like I need to do it now."

Jack stopped and reached his left hand in his pocket. "I love you and I want to live happily ever after with you and our baby, and maybe more kids someday." Jack got out of his chair and walked over next to Maddie, lowering himself onto one knee. He pulled out a blue velvet box from his pocket. Maddie started to cry, knowing what was coming. Jack opened the box to reveal a beautiful diamond ring.

"Madison Alyssa Reynolds, since we've both made it pretty clear we'll never stop loving each other, will you marry me?"

"Yes," Maddie said, tears coming down her face. Jack put the ring on her finger and stood up to hug and kiss her.They pulled away, breathless, and smiled at each other, knowing they couldn't be any happier. Jack cupped her face with his hands and wiped the tears of happiness from her cheeks.

"I love you, and happy anniversary," Jack said, almost whispering.

"I love you too."

A/N: Hope you liked it! Leave me with reviews for when I get home!


	14. Chapter 14

Flowersc781: Glad I made you happy! And I had to make Maddie and Laura get along. She does need girl friends to be around. Thanks for the review and I had lots of fun on vacation. I sort of good to be back though. Thanks again!

Emador: Yeah, I guess she is a little frisky, lol. Oh well, they need some fun. I'm glad you like Laura a little more now. Thanks for the review!

Nelliebly413672: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. More drama is coming up so get ready for that!

Meadow567: Glad you liked it! Thanks for the reivew. And I would really like to go to the game too, but unfortunately I'm not. :( So sorry, but you can't either. As you'll find out this chapter, Maddie gave him four tickets so he could take three guy friends.

A/N: Hey, I'm back! Sorry I couldn't get this up Sunday. We had problems with the flight and ended up getting home really late Saturday night. I spent all day yesterday unpacking and doing all of the "getting home from a long vacation" thing. Returning phone calls, unpacking, and since I start school today, I had to get ready for that too. So anyway, here's the next chapter. The end is kinda fillerish, but I wanted to add it in anyway. Please review:)

Chapter 14

Jack and Maddie returned from dinner later that night to Maddie's room. They wanted privacy and Jack's room wouldn't be an ideal place because Rizzo had some of the team over for dinner.

The reality of Jack's proposal and the engagement still hadn't completely sunk in for Maddie. She was glowing and a huge smile was glued on her face. Maddie couldn't wipe the smile away, and she seemed to be on cloud nine. Jack also seemed really happy, and even though he was the one that proposed, he couldn't believe they were actually getting married.

The couple began kissing upon entering the room, but before they got too carried away, Maddie pulled away and just smiled at Jack.

"Is this really happening?" she asked, now looking at her ring again.

"Yeah, it really is," Jack said, kissing her forehead.

"I love you," Maddie said, kissing him gently on the lips.

"I love you too," Jack responded, closing the small gap between them by pulling Maddie closer.

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"It's a good thing we got home sort of early from dinner, huh?" Jack asked while him and Maddie were laying in bed a little while later. Maddie was cuddled up right next to Jack, one hand on his bare chest with her chin resting comfortably next to his shoulder. Jack's arm was around her back and waist, holding her close.

"Yeah. And it's still pretty early," she said, noticing it was only 11:00. "Do you think the guys are still in your room?"

"Probably. Why?"

"I can't wait to share our good news!" Maddie said, getting excited about telling everyone about the engagement.

"I think we should wait to tell them until tomorrow for a few reasons. One being that I'm far too comfortable laying here with you, and another that I want to let it sink in first with just the two of us together."

"Okay. But tomorrow morning, everyone is finding out."

"Okay. We can wake up the whole team bright and early to tell them."

They were both silent for a few minutes before Jack spoke.

"I didn't do it because of the baby."

"What?" Maddie asked confused, having no idea what Jack was talking about.

"I want you to know that I didn't propose just because we're having a baby. Well, not really."

"Oh," Maddie said, still slightly confused.

"I had the ring before I knew about the baby."

"You did?" Maddie asked, surprised.

"Yeah. I wasn't planning on proposing until after the Olympics, but with the baby on the way, I figured why wait four more months? I love you and couldn't wait."

"Thank you," Maddie said, looking up and kissing his jaw.

"For what? Proposing early?"

"No. Telling me that you didn't just propose because of the baby."

"Did you think that it was?"

"The thought crossed my mind," Maddie admitted.

"Well, I'm glad I could clear that up," Jack said and smiled.

After another few minutes of silence, Maddie yawned.

"Tired?" Jack asked.

"Yeah."

"And you're the one that said it was early."

"Forty minutes ago," Maddie responded, after looking at the clock.

"I'm tired too. It's been a long day. That scavenger hunt really took a lot out of me," Jack joked.

"Well, I couldn't make it easy. You had to work hard for those tickets."

"Speaking of which, who will I take? I got four tickets, which means I have two left."

"Actually, three. The four tickets were so you could take three friends. It'll be a guys night. You need some time with your friends too. I know things have been rough with the news of the baby and everything."

"I can't not take you Maddie. You love Bruins games."

"No. Take your friends. We'll go another time."

"I'll think about it. I don't know if I'll take you saying no for an answer though."

"Well, you better, because I'm not going," Maddie said matter of factly. Jack decided to drop the subject, knowing Maddie wouldn't change her mind. Maybe eventually he could make her consider going. Just as Jack and Maddie were dosing off, Maddie felt the baby move.

"Jack," she said excitedly. "The baby's moving!"

"What? Really?" he said, halfway sitting up.

"Yeah, feel," Maddie said grabbing his hand and putting it on her stomach. A few seconds later, the baby kicked again. Jack and Maddie both smiled, excited to feel the baby kick for the first time.

"That's amazing," Maddie said.

"Yeah, now you have some competition." Maddie smiled. Jack always told her things weren't, 'as amazing as her.' Now Maddie had some competition, and she loved it.

A few minutes later, the kicking died down. Jack kissed Maddie's stomach, and left trailing kisses up to her mouth.

"That was amazing," he breathed while kissing her.

"So is this," Maddie said, referring to his kisses.

"Whada ya say we celebrate?" Jack asked, kissing back down to her stomach.

"I'm tired."

"But our baby just moved. This calls for some serious celebrating."

"There's always something to celebrate with you isn't there?" Maddie said, feeling the sensation from his kisses all over her body. She was slowly losing control, and she knew no matter what she said, they would be 'celebrating.'

"You know me too well," Jack said as he rolled on his back so Maddie was on top of him.

"Yeah, and you know all to well that I'll give in," Maddie said, leaning down to kiss his chest.

The next morning, Jack woke up and saw Maddie looking at her ring. She didn't even notice that Jack was awake because the diamond ring had her full attention. He just looked at Maddie and smiled, wondering how long it would take before she noticed him staring at her.

A few minutes went by, and Maddie was still looking at the ring. She was no longer moving her hand around to see the diamonds sparkle, but now her hand was on Jack's chest and she seemed to be absentmindedly looking at the ring. Jack also assumed she was in deep thought about something, because of the look of concentration on her face. He kissed the top of her head, signaling that he was awake. Maddie looked up instantly.

"Morning," she said, smiling.

"Good morning."

"How long have you been awake?" Maddie asked, reading the smile on Jack's face. He had a habit of either watching her sleep or watching her laying awake, and usually doing something silly.

"Only a few minutes," Jack said and paused. "Just long enough to see you admiring that beautiful ring." Maddie smiled, but turned a little red.

"You must think I'm crazy."

"Amusing? Yes. Crazy? No," Jack said and smiled.

"You always notice me doing stupid things."

"It's not stupid. It's cute," Jack replied, kissing the top of her head again. "You're cute. Plus, it is one gorgeous ring, if I do say so myself."

"Yes, and I'm very lucky to be wearing it."

"I think the man who gave it to you is very lucky," Jack said.

"Yeah, I guess he is, isn't he?"

"Definitely. And now, we better get up because we have some news to share."

"Yeah, I agree. Let's go tell the world!"

"How about we start with the team?" Jack said, laughing.

"Sounds good to me," Maddie replied.

Jack and Maddie decided to tell Rizzo first. Although he knew that Jack had the ring, he had no idea that Jack was planning on proposing on their anniversary. Jack walked in his room and found Rizzo talking to someone on the phone. Maddie followed Jack in the room. They both stood in front of Rizzo, waiting for him to hang up the phone. Rizzo could tell they were waiting for him and he held up a finger and mouthed "wait a minute."

"Okay, I gotta go...love you too Mom, bye," Rizzo said, then hung up the phone. "How was the anniversary?"

"Great," Jack answered.

"It was better than great," Maddie said, beaming.

"What's going on," Rizzo asked, immediately knowing something was up.

"Nothing, just...this," Maddie said, holding out her left hand.

"Oh my God!" Rizzo said and looked back and forth between Jack and Maddie. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yes!" Maddie said excitedly as she hugged Rizzo.

"I proposed early," Jack said as Rizzo let go of Maddie.

"Congratulations you two!"

"Thanks," they said in unison.

"When's the big day?"

"We haven't exactly discussed that yet," Jack said.

"Well, we mentioned maybe sometime this spring or summer," Maddie added.

"That's great. Congratulations again. I'll let you two go. I bet you have lots of people to tell."

"Yes we do," said Maddie.

Jack and Maddie left the room to find more of the team. They ran into Mac and Laura in the hallway on their way to breakfast.

"Hey guys," Jack started.

"Hey," answered Mac.

"Where are you off to?" asked Maddie, purposely tucking a stand of hair behind her ear with her left hand.

"Breakfast," Laura said, not noticing anything.

"Can we join you?" asked Jack.

"Sure," Mac answered.

The four went downstairs to get some food and sat down at a table. Through most of breakfast, Maddie used her left hand to do everything, trying to get one of them to notice the ring. Once they were almost finished, Mac noticed something was up.

"Maddie, are you okay?" he asked, seeing that her elbow was on the table and her left hand seemed to be holding her head up.

"Yeah," she said, looking at him but not moving her hand.

"Oh my God! I can't believe I didn't notice sooner!" Laura said. "Did you...?" Laura started then stopped, as Maddie smiled for Laura's conformation. "That's so exciting!"

"What's going on?" Mac asked, completely oblivious.

"Look at her hand, Robbie."

"Okay," he said, still not noticing the ring.

"Look at her ring finger," Laura prompted. Mac did, and realization swept over his face.

"You two are getting married? Congratulations!"

"Thanks," Jack and Maddie both responded.

"It took you long enough," Jack continued.

"Yeah. I thought something was going on though. I was wondering why Maddie was doing everything with her left hand." The four talked for a few more minutes and finished eating. Once they were done, Jack and Maddie went upstairs to find more of the team. They found the coneheads, Mark , and Jimmy in Bah's room, watching TV.

"Hey guys," Jack said walking in.

"Hey," they all responded.

"We have a little news," Jack said, trying to get their attention away from the TV.

"We already know you're having a baby," Pav commented.

"It's something else," Maddie said.

"Oh yeah, how was the anniversary?" Buzz asked, sort of changing the subject.

"Great. I got a really nice present from Jack."

"What was it?"

"Guess," Maddie said, interested to hear the guy's guesses.

"Flowers?" Mark asked. Maddie shook her head.

"A necklace?" asked Buzz.

"Getting closer," Jack responded.

"Wow, where did you get that ring?" Bah asked, noticing Maddie's diamond ring. "It's really pretty."

"That was your present!" Jimmy said, knowing right away what the ring meant. Mark and Buzz knew too.

"Yeah, it's nice," commented Pav. "But isn't a little more traditional gift a necklace?"

"Pav, it's a _diamond_ ring," Buzz said.

"Okay."

"Well, I like it. But I agree with Pav. A ring is too much like you're engaged or something," said Bah. Jimmy, Mark, Buzz, Jack, and Maddie all exchanged glances, wondering whether Pav and Bah got it now. After a minute of silence, Bah asked, "So what was that news you wanted to tell us?" Buzz smacked him.

"Are you that stupid?" Buzz started. "Guys, the diamond ring _is _an engagement ring."

"I knew that," Pav said, unconvincingly. Buzz looked at him skeptically.

"Wait, you're engaged!"

"Yeah," Maddie answered.

"When did this happen?" Bah asked. Jimmy rolled his eyes.

"A little slow on the uptake today I guess," Jack said quietly to Mark. Mark nodded in response.

"Last night. Jack's anniversary present was a diamond engagement ring and marriage proposal."

"Wow! Why didn't you tell us the first time?" Everyone laughed at Bah's stupidity.

"We tried," said Jack.

"Well, that's awesome you two. Congrats."

"Yeah, congratulations," said Jimmy. Everyone else said their congratulations and hugged Maddie and slapped Jack on the back. After everyone was done saying their congratulations, Jack and Maddie left. They announced their engagement to the rest of the team and then called Jack's family. As suspected, they were ecstatic. Especially Jack's mother. Jack thought she almost seemed more excited than Maddie. After they got off the phone with Jack's parents, he suggested they call Maddie's.

"Are you crazy?" was her response.

"We need to tell them. Preferably before you have the baby."

"I know. And I will. Bt not yet. Please. Just another week or two."

"Okay fine. But then we're telling them."

"We will. But a surprise baby could be a better idea."

"Oh yeah? What would you say? 'Hey mom, make sure to set two extra places for dinner tonight. Jack's coming and so is our baby.' What would she say then?"

"She wouldn't say anything. She'd just pass out. But we won't let it come to that. I promise we'll break the news soon enough."

"Okay," Jack agreed.

A/N: Hope you all liked it! Next chapter, things start to get interesting again (that's code for drama, lol). It may be up later this week, but probably not until the weekend. With school starting today, I probably will only be able to update once a week.


	15. Chapter 15

Nelliebly413672: No, it's not bad drama, and neither is next chapter's, well, not really. Jack and Maddie don't fight, so don't worry! I'm glad you liked the chapter and thanks for the review.

Flowers781: Glad you liked it. I tried to make it funny and I wanted it to take Mac and Laura a long time to figure it out. My eighth grade math teacher did the same thing as Maddie. She tired to get our class to notice her engagement ring, by making motions with her left hand, but no one noticed. Finally someone did, and asked her about it. She was like, "I wondered how long it would take you to notice." It was pretty funny. Anyway, you'll find out how Maddie's parents react next chapter. I know I keep saying that it's soon and stuff, but I promise it is in the next chapter. I already have that part written, lol. Thanks for the review!

Emador: Yeah, what can I say? Jack and Maddie need some fun, lol. And I had to make the conheads oblivious like that. I just couldn't resist. Thanks for the review and I hope you like this chapter!

Meadow567: Glad you liked it, hope you like this one too and thanks for the review!

A/N: Time for a new chapter and some drama! Well, I guess it's not big drama, but it's still sort of drama. Hope you like it. Please read and review!

A/N 2: There's a part in here when Jack and Maddie are talking about baby names. I have the top girl's names and the top boy names there. I already know the sex of the baby, but let me know what names you guys think. I actually do have middle names picked out too. When you review, tell me your favorite boys names and girls name, if you have a preference. :)

Chapter 15

November 13, 1979

Before anyone knew it, a month and a half went by. No one could believe Thanksgiving was the next week. The Olympics were less than three months away, and that meant the baby was three months away too. Maddie was starting to show more and more now, but she could still cover it up if she had to, and she would have to in the near future, because Maddie was going to see her parents. The team was planning a big Thanksgiving feast together, but Maddie was spending her Thanksgiving in Boston. Herb was giving the team Thanksgiving off from practice, and their normal Friday practice was Saturday instead.

Maddie was sad she was going to miss Thanksgiving with the team, but she also knew that she had to tell her parents about the baby. Telling them over the phone wasn't an option. It had to be done in person as much as Maddie hated the idea of facing them.

The guys were all pretty disappointed Maddie wouldn't be around for Thanksgiving too. Maddie not being there meant they had to cook, which might not turn out well. Luckily for them, Gail and Laura were both going to help.

Tuesday night, the week before Thanksgiving, Jack and Maddie were relaxing in her room, watching TV. Maddie was sitting on the bed, in front of Jack, leaning back on him, and flipping through a baby name book. Jack was reading it over her shoulder.

"The number one girl's name last year was Jennifer. I like that name, but not with O'Callahan," Maddie said.

"Well, Michael was the top boy's name," Jack said reading the boy's column. "I like it, and it sounds good with O'Callahan."

"I've always liked Michael. I like Christopher too."

"Christopher's too long," Jack said. He tried it. "Christopher O'Callahan. Yeah, too long."

"We would call him Chris. Chris O'Callahan sounds good."

"Let's see what else we can come up with."

"Well, there's common names like David, Andrew, James, William, Mark, and Kevin. Or we could try something more unique, like Lewis, Gillbert, or Alan."

"Alan O'Callahan?" Jack said laughing. "Let's stick to common names."

"I agree. We could name the baby after someone too. Wasn't your grandfather's name Andrew?"

"Yeah, Andrew's okay, but I like Michael better." Jack put his hands on Maddie's stomach and leaned down closer to it, over her shoulder. "What do you think? Do you like Michael?" As if in response, the baby kicked. "I'll take that as a yes."

"And how are you so sure it's a boy?"

"I'm not. But with all the kicking it does, it must have some strong legs. I sense a future Boston Bruin in there."

"Oh, please," Maddie sighed. Now it was her turn to talk to the baby. "If you think your daddy's weird, kick for me."

The baby kicked again, and this made Maddie laugh. Jack laughed too, but pretended to be hurt.

"Well, the baby must be a girl. The two of you are already gaining up on me."

"Okay then, let's try girl's names."

"Well, Jennifer's already out. What else have we got?"

"There's Amanda, Ashley, Amy, Allison . . . "

"Those all sound okay with O'Callahan, but they're not my favorites. Let's keep going." The two continued looking, laughing at funny names and thinking of others to seriously consider.

"This is harder than I thought," Maddie said. Jack was still reading.

"Joelle, Guadalupe, Salina. What kinds of names are those?"

"Well, that's why they're at the bottom of the list. They're not too popular."

"Ella's not popular either, but it's pretty."

"Yeah, it sounds good with O'Callahan too."

"And Isabelle is cute."

"Izzy?" Maddie asked, wondering if that would be the nickname.

"That's a cute baby girl's name."

"Yeah. I think I like that the best so far. How about Emma or Olivia?"

"They're both cute too. I like Emma a lot."

Jack and Maddie continued looking, and Maddie found a few more.

"What about Kelly, Anne, Anna, or Kristina? They're all pretty common and they sound good with O'Callahan."

"Kelly's all right. Kristina is a little too formal though."

"We could call her Kristy."

"That sounds better," Jack said, thought still not completely happy with it. "I like Anna though. Would we call her Annie or something?"

"Yeah, we could. That's cute."

"What do you think? Do we have a top boys name and girl's name yet?"

"Well, I really like Michael for a boy. But if you like Chris or Andrew, they're okay too, I guess."

"No, I like Michael."

"Andrew's probably my second favorite."

"Okay, so Andrew or Michael for a boy. What about girls?"

"I think either Anna, Emma, or Isabelle."

"Okay. I like those. I think I like Emma and Izzy the best," Maddie said, smiling at the thought of the baby.

"We still need middle names too," Jack said with an almost dreaded tone. He was tired of thinking of baby names.

"I know, but all this thinking has made me really hungry." She stopped for a minute before adding, "You know what I could really use right now?"

"What?" Jack asked.

"Peanut butter ice cream."

"Peanut butter ice cream?"

"Yeah. But I don't have any," Maddie said sadly, putting on a sad face, and turning around to face Jack.

"Oh, I hate when you do that," Jack groaned.

"Do what?" Maddie asked innocently.

"That thing."

"What thing?"

"That sad puppy dog face. I can't say no to you when you do that. I'll get you some ice cream," Jack said giving in.

"Oh really! Would you? You the best Jack!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You owe me one."

"I owe you one? But I'm pregnant. You're supposed to get me whatever I want. It's a rule."

"Oh so now there are rules?"

"Yeah. Everyone knows them."

"Is there a rule book?"

"Everyone knows them," Maddie said, dodging the question.

"I've never heard them," Jack said, skeptically.

"Your mother has." Jack rolled his eyes and Maddie laughed.

"Fine. I'll be right back."

Jack left the room and walked outside, trying to decide where the closest store was. The coneheads saw him and stopped him.

"Hey OC. Where are you going this late?" Bah asked.

"Maddie wants some ice cream."

"She has legs," Pav teased, laughing.

"She's pregnant. I'm not gonna make her go by herself."

"So you're going all the way to the store for her. It's cold out too," Bah said. Jack didn't respond. "She's got you whipped, man."

"If it was your girlfriend, I'm sure you'd do the same."

"Nope. I'd make her walk," Pav said.

"Well I'm nice."

"No, you're a softy," Buzz said. "All I know is, when Gail gets pregnant someday, I'm not waiting on her hand and foot."

"I'm sure she'll make you see that differently," Jack said.

"Nope. I mean, I'll be nice and stuff, but I won't walk to the store when the wind chill factor is fifteen below."

"Well, Maddie really wants ice cream."

"Like I said, you're a softy," Buzz said, and the three guys laughed.

Jack walked away, knowing the guys were partially right. He was sort of a softy when it came to Maddie.

The next day, the guys were in the locker room after practice, getting changed so Maddie could come in. She needed to check on a few minor injuries. Verchota had sore legs and a little pain in his joints, and Rammer had a slightly strained hamstring. Jack took the opportunity to complain to the team without Maddie there.

"Okay so last night, I got Maddie the wrong ice cream at the store. She got mad when I brought her vanilla with peanut butter instead of chocolate. She told me she didn't care, but she got that annoyed, pouty tone."

"What did you do?" asked Pav.

"Went back and got her the other kind."

"What!" Bah asked incredulously.

"I had to. She really wanted it."

"So?" Pav said.

"OC is supposed to do things like that," Rizzo said. "Maddie is pregnant after all."

"Exactly. She's pregnant, not paralyzed," said Jack.

"But everyone knows that guys are supposed to cater to pregnant women."

"How does everyone know this?" Jack said to no one in particular.

"It's like an unwritten rule or something," Jimmy said.

"Yeah, everyone knows," added Silky.

"Well, it's stupid," Jack said.

"You think being nice to Maddie is stupid? Wait til I tell her," said Silky.

"No. I like being nice to her. But if I have to walk to the store in the middle of the night, when it's that fucking cold, for the next three months, I'll go crazy."

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November 16, 1979

Over the few days, a lot of the guys were ready to go crazy. Maddie had started asking them for everything, and they always helped her, though they secretly would rather do anything else, even skate Herbies. Maddie was starting to bother them more and more, but no one wanted to tell Maddie no, because the first few times they told her no, she got really mad.

"Okay guys. See you later," Philly said as he was leaving the locker room after practice on Friday.

"You're leaving quick. Got a date?" Mark asked.

"Nope, but I have stuff to do."

"You're not even waiting for a massage?" Mac asked.

"Definitely not. Because every time Maddie gives us massages, she thinks we owe her. And I am not going to be in debt to Maddie."

"Yeah, I'm leaving too. See you guys later," Pav said ducking out of the locker room with Jannie, Suter, and Christian following.

"Well, if everyone else is leaving, so am I. I'm not getting stuck going to the store for Maddie," Mac said, picking up his stuff. The rest of the guys were trying to hurry too. Maddie would be there in a couple minutes, and everyone wanted to leave before she found them.

"Wait, you guys can't leave. I need help," said Jack.

"OC, we're sick of helping. You can go to the store for Maddie. You're the one that's engaged to her, remember. It's your responsibility," Silky said.

"No wait! Please don't leave."

"Hey guys," Maddie said walking in the locker room. Jack instantly jumped back in the shower area, and the other guys looked at each other, thinking 'Too late.'

"Where's Jack?" she asked, noticing he wasn't there.

"I don't know. I think he's back -" Rizzo cut Silky off.

"He's talking to Herb."

"No, he's not. I was just there," Maddie said, confused.

"Oh, well he is," Rizzo said.

"Well, could someone help me with something?"

"Nope, I have to go ice my leg," Silky said.

"I have to go call my parents," Mark said.

"I have to get ready for my date with Laura," Mac said.

The rest of the guys all made excuses, quickly leaving the locker room. Rizzo was the only one left. Maddie looked at him, hoping he would help.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Rizzo said quickly, running away.

_Why are they avoiding me?_ Maddie though sadly, leaving the locker room.

After Jack was sure Maddie left, he came out of his hiding spot, got his stuff together, and went to his room.

That night, the guys had all planned to go bowling. Maddie had invited herself along. When Jack found this out, he went to warn the other guys.

"What? Maddie's going? If she is, then I'm not," said Philly.

"Why?" OC asked. Philly just looked at him with a 'you know why' expression.

"I'll only go if you promise that Maddie won't make us do anything for her," Silky said.

"Do you just want me to ask her not to come?" Jack said. He was joking, but Jannie answered him seriously.

"Yeah, could you?"

Jack did succeed in getting Maddie to stay at the dorms. He told her that she could use the rest, and that the guys needed a night out alone. Maddie didn't like the idea at first, but she finally agreed.

The guys did have fun without Maddie that night, especially not having to cater to her. After bowling they went to a bar for a few drinks and then went back to the dorms, satisfied with their night of fun without Maddie.

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November 20, 1979

"Hey Jack, are you almost ready?" Maddie asked, calling into the locker room. They had another doctor's appointment that afternoon. From the other side of the door, she heard loud groans.

"Yeah, one minute," she heard Jack say. She waited for him to come out. Jannie and Suter came out first though. They ran past her, barely acknowledging her presence.

"Don't I get a hi?"

"Oh. Hi Maddie. We got to go."

"Okay, bye," Maddie said, although they were already too far away to hear her.

Mac came out a second later, and he barely said hi either.

"Where is everyone going in such a hurry today?" Maddie asked him.

"Lots to do," was all he said before running off.

Maddie felt sort of bad. In the past few days, every time she saw the guys, they would run off, not really making time to talk to her. Last night she wasn't even invited to go out with them.

_They must be busy. And they do need guy time, _she thought, trying to assure herself. Jack came out a couple minutes later and they left for the doctor's office.

"Do you know why everyone runs off without talking to me?" Maddie asked on their way there.

"They do?" Jack asked innocently.

"Yeah, I feel like they are avoiding me or don't like me or something. I'm never included anymore. Is it because I'm pregnant?"

"No, not at all. The guys love you. I'll find out what's going on. I think they just appreciate time alone, without girls around. And I think you scare them."

"I scare them?"

"Well, yeah. No. I don't know," Jack said, not really wanting to explain.

"Why do I scare them?"

"Never mind. I don't know."

"Yes you do. Tell me," Maddie pleaded.

"Look, we're here," Jack said, pulling into the parking lot. "I'll talk to you about this later."

"Okay fine."

Later, Maddie ended up completely forgetting that Jack was going to talk to her about why she scares the guys. Jack and Maddie got a picture of the baby printed, and they were both really excited. As soon as they got back to the dorms, Maddie ran to Rizzo's room to show him.

Silky, Jimmy, Mark, Pav, Bah, Mac, and Buzz were all there too, playing poker. Maddie interrupted them to show them the picture.

"Guys look!" she said running with the picture. "It's our sonogram picture!" Jack followed Maddie in the room, and stood behind her.

"Yeah, cool Maddie," Mac said, not really looking up.

"Robbie, you didn't even look at it." He looked up, then back down at his cards again.

"It's nice." Maddie started pointing things in the picture out, like the head, arms, and legs.

"That's really nice Maddie, but we're in the middle of a game. Could you wait?" Silky asked. Even though Silky and Maddie got along a little better, Silky was one of the only people who didn't mind telling Maddie off, or ignoring her.

"I just wanted to show you. The baby's so cute."

"It's a little black and white blob," Silky said laughing. He made his comment as a joke, but Maddie looked really hurt.

"Fine. If you guys want to be like that, then I'll just leave. Don't bother looking at the picture. I didn't want you to see it anyway." Her eyes welled up and she turned around, going past Jack and out of the room. She made her way to her room and laid on the bed, crying.

"Why did you guys have to do that?" Jack asked them, after Maddie left. "You know she's excited about the baby."

"But she's getting on our nerves," Rizzo commented.

"I got to go see how she is," Jack said, and left to find Maddie. Even if she was getting a little annoying, the least they could do is put up with her. She was pregnant after all.

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The next day was Sunday and Maddie completely avoided the guys all together, except Jack. She was convinced that he was the only one on her side. Normally she made dinner for the team on Sundays with Gail and sometimes Laura, but this week she wasn't going to. The guys didn't seem to realize that Maddie was avoiding them though. They thought she had a lot to do before she left. The next three days, Maddie went straight to her dorm after practice unless she had work to do. She no longer offered the guys massages, and she didn't really even see any of them unless they needed an ankle taped or injury looked at. Now the guys really started to miss her and they knew she was leaving late that night for Boston.

"Where's Maddie been lately, OC?" Mark asked in the locker room.

"I don't know. Just hanging around."

"Why doesn't she come by anymore?"

"She thinks you guys hate her," Jack said honestly.

"What?" Bah asked, surprised. "Why?"

"Because I told her that she annoyed you guys."

"OC, why'd you do that?" asked Silky.

"We don't hate her," said Mac.

"Well, what was I supposed to tell her? You were avoiding her because she smells bad?" Jack asked sarcastically.

"She doesn't smell," Buzz said seriously.

"He wasn't being serious, dumb ass," whispered Bah.

"Well, someone should try talking to her," said Jimmy.

"I'll pass," said Philly.

"That's exactly what I mean," said Jack. "You guys constantly try to avoid her because you think she'll ask for something."

"More like, we know she will," Silky said.

"Well you guys never say no."

"How can we?" asked Bah.

"Welcome to my world," said Jack.

"We can say no, we just don't," said Mark.

"Exactly," said Jack. "But let me tell you something. She'd be a lot happier if you just said no."

"When I told her no, she got mad," Silky pointed out.

"Well, she still thinks that you don't always like her. Trust me, if you were honest with her, she'd be happier. Instead, you made me the bad guy, telling her something she can't stand hearing."

"What's that?" asked Jannie.

"That she's being annoying as hell. Maddie hates when people tell her that they don't like the way she is doing something or that she's doing something wrong. She is obsessed with pleasing everyone all of the time, and she hates when people are mad at her."

"Really?" said Buzz.

"Yeah. It's because it kills her to have people mad at her."

"I'll talk to her," Rizzo offered.

Shortly after Maddie got back to her room, there was a knock on the door. Assuming it was Jack, she got up quickly to answer it.

"Hey guys," Maddie said with a smile when she saw Rizzo, Jimmy, and Bah standing there. The three guys could tell it was a fake smile, but they didn't say anything.

"Hey Maddie. Where have you been? We haven't seen you in so long," said Jimmy.

"We wanted to see if you wanted to some over for dinner before you leave. I'm making meatballs," said Rizzo, trying to tempt her.

"I don't know," said Maddie. "I'm pretty busy around here."

"Are you sure? You can always make time for the infamous meatballs," Bah said.

"I'll see. Maybe I'll stop by."

"All right. Your flight is leaving at nine-thirty, right?" Maddie nodded her head. "Okay, come over at five-thirty. We'll give you a nice dinner before you leave," Rizzo said.

"Okay, maybe," Maddie said and shut the door, and the guys knew she wouldn't be coming over because of the look on her face.

"Aren't you going to try harder?" asked Bah.

"Maybe she'll come," said Jimmy.

"She wants us to admit we were wrong," said Rizzo. "If she doesn't want to come over, that's fine. I have a better idea anyway."

The guys walked to Rizzo's room as he told them the plan.

A/N: What is Rizzo's big idea? You'll find out next time. Maddie will also (finally) tell her parents next chapter! Please review and again, if you have a favorite name for a girl and boy, tell me. Next chapter will be up next weekend at the latest.


	16. Chapter 16

Flowersc781: Yep, that is the unwritten rule, lol. And what you said about the guys is totally true. They will realize how stupid they were being this chapter. Thanks for the review and thanks for the baby name vote!

Emador: Glad you liked it and thanks for the review and thoughts on baby names. And I totally understand how school gets. That's why I can't update twice a week anymore. I'm too busy with school work! Also, thanks again for telling me about your new story. I like it so far!

Nelliebly413672: Glad you like the chapter and thanks for the review. Yeah, OC's whipped, lol. I guess it's better for him that the guys think he's whipped instead of Maddie being mad if Jack didn't get the ice cream, lol. You never know when a pregnant woman's hormones will make them crazy!

meadow567: Yeah, the guy's were being a little meaner than necessary. They'll realize they were being stupid. And since they were so mean, they have a special surprise for her! You'll find out Maddie's parents reactions this chapter. Thanks for the review and I'm glad you like the names. What a coincidence about your name being one of the them:)

lien-wan: Pregnancy cravings are tough (on everyone), so I've heard. I bet you're excited to be an aunt though! Maddie is going to tell her parents this chapter! Thanks for the review.

A/N: Like I promised, Maddie tells her parents this chapter! Enjoy and please review.

A/N 2: If you had a preference on the baby's name and didn't tell me in your last review, feel free to this time.

Chapter 16

November 21, 1979

Wednesday night, Maddie arrived in Boston about 10pm. She took a taxi to her house and walked up to the door through the snow. There wasn't much but just enough to enjoy.

Ever since Maddie was young, she loved winter and snow. She thought freshly fallen snow was beautiful and she especially loved the way it glistened in the moonlight. Her happy thoughts were interrupted as the front door opened.

"Maddie! You're finally home," her mother said, hugging her. "I missed you so much."

"Missed you too, mom," Maddie said hugging back.

"Hey Maddie," Rachel said from inside the house.

"Hey Rach. How are you?" Maddie asked her sister.

"Great."

"Let's bring your stuff inside," her mother said, grabbing her bag from the porch.

After they were inside, they sat in the living room and drank hot chocolate. Maddie asked where her dad was, because she hadn't seen him yet. Apparently, he was at the store. That was fine with Maddie, because she wasn't ready to drop the bomb yet.

"So what's new with you, sweetie?" her mother asked.

"Not a lot," Maddie lied.

"Are you wearing different makeup?" Rachel asked.

"No why?"

"Cause you look different. Your face looks brighter, almost like you're tan or something."

"Rachel's right. You're almost like glowing."

"Well, it the same old me," Maddie answered, now desperate to change the subject.

"How's Jack?" Rachel asked, bringing up the somewhat touchy subject.

"He's great," answered Maddie, looking at her mother for some expression of approval. Maddie didn't get the reaction she was hoping for.

"So I take it that means you're still dating him?"

"Yeah, mom. We're still together." At this point, Maddie was really glad she put her engagement ring in her purse. If her family had noticed, it would be a long few days. Maddie wasn't planning on telling her parents anything until just before she left Boston.

"Oh," was all her mother said in response. Before there was an argument, Maddie decided to leave the room.

"Well, I'm really tired, so I'm gonna go upstairs. It's been a long day. I had to be up for work at six this morning," Maddie said, starting to head upstairs. Just after she was halfway up, the baby began kicking. She stopped for a minute and waited for the baby to settle down.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah. My stomach hurts a little. I think I drank too much hot chocolate." As soon as the baby stopped, Maddie hurried up the rest of the stairs and headed to her old room.

Just before Maddie went to sleep, she gave Jack a call. He answered almost right away.

"Hello?"

"Hey, baby."

"Hey, how are you?" Jack asked.

"Good. But I miss you already."

"I miss you too. But you're only gone a few days. And you know what they say. Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

"Yes they do," Maddie agreed.

"So, have you told them?"

"Not yet. My dad wasn't home."

"Maddie, the sooner you tell them and get it over with, the better you'll feel."

"I know. But my dad honestly wasn't home. I have to tell everyone at once." Jack and Maddie chatted a little while longer, and then said their good-byes and hung up.

The next morning, Maddie woke up bright and early with kicking from the baby. Lately, the baby had been kicking quite a bit. She hoped the baby would stop when she was with her family. Once Maddie went downstairs, the baby had stopped kicking. She sat on the couch and turned on the Macy's Parade. A minute later, her dad came in the room.

"Hi Maddie. How are you?"

"Good, dad. You?"

"I'm good. What are you doing?"

"Watching the parade. I do every year."

"Yeah. Ever since you were little. I figured you would have stopped by now."

"Nope. I still like watching it." Maddie wondered why her dad was making all the small talk. Eventually, the topic of Jack was bound to come up. She was right.

"So, are you home for good now, or are you going back to Minnesota?" Since her dad asked this with an undertone, Maddie knew what he really meant.

"You really meant to ask if I'm here because I broke up with Jack or if I'm only here visiting, right?"

"I guess. If that's how you want to word it."

"Yeah, dad. I'm going back to Minnesota."

"All right," he said, starting to walk away.

"You'll have to get used to him eventually."

"No. I really don't plan on it. Just like I don't plan on you being together for very long."

Maddie decided not to comment, but thought, _Well, then I guess you'll be surprised to hear the vows of "until death do us part."_

For the rest of the day, Maddie tried to ignore what her father had said, and spent the day watching the parade with her sister and helping her mother make dinner. At three, her family started coming over. Her grandmother on her mother's side came, as did her aunt, uncle, and cousin Brian, who was four.

All day, Maddie wore sweat pants and a sweat shirt, so she could easily cover up her baby belly. For dinner though, she ended up changing and now she wore a red sweater and jeans. She was pretty sure her pregnancy was obvious, but she still hoped no one would notice. Unfortunately, she wasn't so lucky.

Maddie, Rachel, and Brian were in the living room when Brian ever so casually asked Maddie if she "had a baby growing in there." Maddie was shocked at Brian's comment, after all, he was only four.

"Where did you hear that?" Maddie asked, as Rachel stood next to her, looking at Brian, also shocked.

"My mommy says that's where babies come from. Mommies get fat tummies when they are 'specting a baby," he said, matter-of-factly, proud of himself for knowing the information.

"Do I look fat?" Maddie asked, wondering. She knew if a four-year-old could tell, everyone else would be able to also.

"Your tummy looks like you have a baby in it."

"Oh."

"Do you?" Just then, the three were called out for dinner. Maddie was thankful the conversation was over, and that no one else was around to hear it. Rachel was giving Maddie looks now, as if wondering whether Brian was right, but Maddie did her best to avoid eye contact.

At dinner, things got even more interesting. Maddie's grandmother started asking about Maddie's job in Minnesota. With that subject, the topic of Jack was brought up. Maddie's grandma was the only person in the family to like Jack, other than Brian, who didn't know him, Rachel, who didn't really have an opinion either way, and Maddie herself.

"So how is Jack doing?"

"He's good. Very excited for the Olympics."

"I bet. Are things good with the two of you?"

"Yeah. Everything's great," Maddie said, a smile stretching across her face. Seeing her smile, Maddie's grandmother also smiled, and started making assumptions. She may have been very old, but she was a smart lady.

"Do I hear a proposal in the near future?"

"Maybe," Maddie said, not knowing how to answer. She was still smiling though, and her grandma figured something was up.

"Let me see your left hand, Maddie." Now, Maddie knew she couldn't hide it. Just before dinner, Maddie had put her engagement ring back on. She was hoping to tell her family at least the part about the engagement at dinner, so her grandmother could be there to congratulate her. Maddie brought her left hand out for everyone to see. At first, everyone seemed to be shocked. Her grandma spoke first.

"Oh my goodness! You're engaged!" Her grandma stood up and walked to the other side of the table where Maddie was, wrapping her in a hug. "Congratulations sweetie. I'm so happy for the two of you."

"Congratulations, Maddie," Rachel said, who seemed to still be a little surprised. Maddie's aunt and uncle said congratulations too, even though Maddie knew they didn't like Jack too much. She suspected it was only because Maddie's parents never said a good word about him.

"When did he propose?" Maddie's dad asked sternly.

"October first."

"What?" her grandmother exclaimed. "You've been engaged that long and you didn't even call to tell me."

"I'm sorry, grandma. I just didn't think it would go over too well." Maddie looked at her dad. "And I think I was right."

Maddie never expected a congratulations from her father, but she hoped to at least get by without him making any nasty comments.

"Mom. Are you okay?" Maddie asked, wondering what her mother was thinking. She had been silent.

"Yeah, just surprised. I never thought this would happen so soon."

"Well, they love each other. They can't wait forever. I need great-grandchildren before I die," Maddie's grandmother said with a smile. Maddie just smiled at her comment, trying to remain as unfazed as she could.

"I guess I never knew how serious things were with the two of you."

"Pretty serious, mom."

"Yeah. Well, I am happy. It seems like you really love him."

"I do," Maddie said in agreement. "Does this mean you stopped hating him?"

"Well, I never hated him."

"Yes you did."

"Well, I admit I didn't like him much. But as long as you're happy, I am too. Besides, how could I not be happy. My oldest baby is getting married." As Maddie's mother said this, she came over to hug her daughter. Now it seemed like Maddie only had one more to win over. Her father.

"Dad, are you over hating Jack?"

"You can't be serious about marrying him. I won't allow it."

"What!" Maddie said in disbelief, her voice raised. She couldn't believe her father was doing this. He couldn't tell her who to marry.

"You can't marry him," he said again. "He never even asked me, you know."

"I don't care. Maybe the reason he never asked was because you scare him. He's afraid you might kill him or something."

"You can do so much better than him. Why are you settling for a guy like him?"

"I love him, dad!" Maddie said, half wanting to be pissed off at her father for being an ass, and half wanting to cry because of what he was saying about Jack.

"Does he love you back? Or are you just another notch on his belt?"

"Dad!"

"Don't tell me you haven't had sexual relations with him. Almost every time I called your room in the morning, he answered the phone. That says enough."

Before, Maddie was angry. Now she was embarrassed. Did her father really see a need to start this at the dinner table, in front of the entire family? On Thanksgiving, nonetheless. Couldn't he have waited until everyone left to start this? Well, now he was asking for it.

"Yeah, dad. Jack and I have hot sex all the time," Maddie said, somewhat sarcastically, trying to be funny. Then Maddie continued. "Twice a day, at least. We even did it in the backseat of his car on our first date. Are you happy?" Rachel stifled laughter and got a look from her father.

"Madison, don't get that tone with me," he said seriously. "I just don't think Jack cares about you."

"Doesn't care? You don't think he cares? He loves me! He would have never proposed otherwise. And trust me, if he didn't care, he would have been gone a long time ago!" Maddie said, referring to when she told him about the baby. That being said, Maddie got up and ran upstairs to her room, not being able to hold the tears in anymore. She slammed her door and cried on her bed.

The rest of her family tried to go on having a nice evening, avoiding anything that would get anybody going again. Brian was the only one who had no idea what was going on, but he seemed oblivious to the entire situation anyway. He had absolutely no idea what transpired between Maddie and her father.

Before Maddie's grandma left, she came upstairs to tell Maddie congratulations once again. She assured Maddie that eventually her father would come around. Just having support from one family member made Maddie feel a lot better. It was no surprise though, because from the minute her grandmother met Jack, she liked him.

Maddie visited her grandma one day before she and Jack were even dating. Her grandma thought Jack was so polite and nice, and she always told Maddie that she and Jack would make a cute couple. Her grandma was never wrong, and now, a few years later, they were actually engaged.

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Minnesota . . .

"Hey guys, turkey actually turned out pretty good," Philly commented, his mouth stuffed with food. The team was eating Thanksgiving dinner at Buzz and Gail's apartment.

"Glad you like it. Luckily, two out of the three turned out decent enough," Buzz said.

"It was only because Gail and Laura cooked those two," Bah added, laughing.

"I hope you let them make dessert," Mac said.

"We did," said Rizzo. "But my gravy turned out all right. Don't you think?" he said, asking everyone at the table.

"Yeah, just like your meatballs," Jack said, laughing.

"Better than you could do," Rizzo shot back.

"Well, Maddie thinks I make good pancakes."

"Even I can make pancakes," said Silky.

"Yeah, they're not that hard to make," added Laura.

"Well, they are for some people," said Gail. "Buzz almost started a fire in the kitchen last time he made them."

"How?" Laura asked.

"He forgot to put grease in the pan," Gail said laughing, as everyone else joined in.

"Is that why the other turkey was burnt to a crisp?" asked Pav. "You let Buzz cook it?"

"Yeah. This time he forgot how to read. Apparently, 400 degrees is the same as 450 degrees."

After the team, including Gail and Laura, were done laughing, Rizzo brought up their plans for the next day.

"Does everyone know what we're doing tomorrow?"

"Yeah, we have the groups, right?" Mac asked.

"What are you guys doing?" Gail asked.

"Well, we haven't been too nice to Maddie lately," Rizzo started.

"We heard all about that," said Laura, and Gail nodded in agreement.

"We wanted to do something special for her."

"What's that?" asked Gail.

"Throw a baby shower." Gail and Laura looked at the guys like they were crazy, until Jimmy continued with an explanation.

"We know it's tradition for girls to throw a shower, but considering she's around us all the time, that's not really possible."

"It's the least we can do for her," said Bah.

"When's the shower?" Gail asked.

"Saturday afternoon. Jack's picking up from the airport around noon and we're having the shower right after. It's a surprise," Rizzo said.

"And where might this baby shower be?" asked Gail.

"Here," Buzz said, hoping Gail would be okay with it. Their apartment was bigger than the dorms, and it was the only way they could fit everyone.

"That's fine. I'd be happy to have the shower here."

"How are you doing this?" asked Laura. "I mean, are you getting gifts or baking a cake or anything?"

"Yeah. Some of us are baking the cake tomorrow, some are getting decorations, party favors, and games, and the rest of us are going shopping."

"Shopping? Tomorrow?" said Laura, looking at Gail with disbelief.

"Yeah. Why?" Buzz asked.

"It's black Friday. You can't go shopping," said Gail.

"Why not?"

"It's the biggest shopping day of the year! Everyone goes shopping the day after Thanksgiving," said Laura.

"We'll be fine," said Mac.

"Do you guys need any help?"

"You can come shopping with us if you want," Mac said to Laura.

"Yeah, you might need a chaperone. Knowing you guys, Maddie'll end up with weird baby presents."

"Well, the bakers don't need help. Do we boys?" Buzz said, referring to himself and the other guys that were helping him with the cake.

"You're on cake duty?" Gail asked him, shocked.

"Didn't we just establish that Buzz ruins everything he tries to make?" asked Rammer.

"If you're on cake duty, I better stay with you guys to help. You may need it."

"We are perfectly capable of baking a cake without help from a girl," Buzz said.

"Fine, but you still need supervision. I won't help, but I have to see the disaster."

"Okay. Gail's going to help with the baking aspect and Laura's going to help shop. Who can help the decorating committee?" Jack asked, sort of making fun of his teammates. He thought the baby shower idea was cute, and he knew Maddie would love it, but he also thought the whole thing was pretty funny.

"We don't need help," said Silky. "We'll do a great job without assistance."

"Yeah, how much can decorating be messed up?" asked Laura sarcastically, not expecting a response.

"More than we probably know," Jack whispered to Larua.

After they finished dinner, dessert, making plans for the next day, and playing some football, Jack left the apartment and got back to his room just in time to hear the phone ringing.

"Hey Maddie," he said, picking the phone up.

"Hey. How did you know who it was?" Maddie asked.

"I'm a good guesser," he said, then added, "I knew you'd be calling."

"Yeah." Jack could tell that Maddie was a little upset. He could hear the tears in her voice.

"Baby, what's wrong?"

"I told them."

"So they didn't take the news well?"

"Nope. Well, not my dad. And I only told them half of it."

"The wedding, I hope."

"Yeah."

"Well, it'll be okay, babe. He'll get over it."

"I hope so. I thought he'd be over hating you by now."

"Well, nothing he says is going to change the fact that I love you."

"Love you too. And I miss you. I wish you could be with me right now."

"I wish I could be there too. What are you doing?"

"Getting ready for bed . . . all alone."

"Oh, now I really wish I could be there," he said suggestively.

"I'm just gonna miss having someone to wake up next to."

"Me too. I'm gonna miss watching you sleep. And I miss that little baby of ours too." Maddie smiled. They continued talking for a little while, until Maddie was ready to fall asleep. They said their good-byes and hung up.

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Friday morning, things were going a little better with Maddie's family. Aside from the night before, Maddie hoped the weekend would be great. She couldn't wait to see Jack again. She missed him so much.

Maddie's dad was being pretty tolerable that morning. She guessed that her mother may have warned him to lay off. As long as her dad wasn't being a jerk, Maddie didn't care why. If he could only continue the nice phase when she told them the rest of the news.

"So, have you decided on the big day?" Maddie's mother asked at breakfast that morning.

"Not really. Sometime in the summer," Maddie answered. "We've been a little busy with something else."

"What's that?"

"Maybe it's the baby Brian insisted you were having," Rachel said joking. "That was so funny."

"What baby?" her dad asked.

"Oh, nothing. Brian just thought Maddie had 'a baby in her tummy'," Rachel said, imitating the way Brian had said it.

"Well, actually . . . Brian was dead on," Maddie said hesitantly.

"You're really pregnant?" Rachel said, her eyes wide in shock. Maddie nodded.

"What?" Maddie's dad exclaimed angrily. "Pregnant! How could you possibly be pregnant?" Maddie's mom still hadn't said anything.

"I think we established that last night at dinner," Maddie said, half under her breath.

"How could you let this happen?" Maddie's mom finally commented. "You were such a responsible girl. Now you go off to Minnesota and get pregnant! I thought you had more common sense."

_Now my mom is on me again too, _Maddie thought. _I thought she would have been at least a little excited._

"Jack and I love each other," Maddie said in Jack's defense. "We're getting married."

"That's not good enough. Engagement is not marriage."

"I can't believe you could be so stupid," her father added. "Did you at least consider other options? Like adoption?"

"Why would I give my baby away? Jack and I are engaged."

"Did he propose before or after your illegitimate child was conceived?" her father questioned.

_You just had to throw the 'illegitimate' in there, didn't you, dad_? Maddie thought. _I really can't take this anymore._

"That's it! I'm sick of you constantly treating me like I'm a child and like I can't make my own decisions. I don't care if you don't like Jack and the fact that we're getting married, or that I'm having a baby. I didn't tell you so you could tell me how stupid and irresponsible I am. I told you because I thought you'd like to know you were going to be grandparents. I guess I was wrong. Jack was wrong. I should have never told you. He was the one insisting you two should know."

"Why, so we can support you when he leaves?" Maddie's dad threw in.

"Forget it. I'm sorry I ever came to visit. Don't worry. I won't bother you guys with the baby again." Maddie got up from the table and went upstairs to get her things. She was going to stay in a hotel until her flight on Saturday morning. Maddie packed everything up while crying and was ready to go when Rachel came into her room.

"Maddie, it's okay," Rachel said, wrapping her sister in a hug. "I'm happy you're having a baby. I get to be an aunt!"

"Well, at least one person in this family can share my excitement."

"Have you picked out names?"

"Yeah." Maddie went on to list the possible baby names, and she talked a little more about the baby. A little later, Rachel helped Maddie with her things and Maddie left. She felt bad not even saying good-bye to her parents, but at this rate, they probably didn't want to see her. Maddie left and promised Rachel that she would se her soon. Even if it meant buying Rachel a plane ticket to Minnesota, or somehow pulling some strings to get her to come to a few games.

A/N: Hope you liked the chapter! And for the record, I totally did what Buzz did the first time I made pancakes. I was like, twelve years old, and my sister, who was six at the time, were trying to make my mom breakfast in bed on Mother's Day and the kitchen started filling with smoke. I ran upstairs to tell my mom, and she had to come down and take care of the smoke filled kitchen. It turns out that I forgot the Crisco. So that's why I made Buzz do that. It was pretty funny when it happened to me, looking back on it. (My mom didn't get breakfast in bed that Mother's Day, lol.)

Anyway, I know there was a lot of drama with Maddie and her family in that chapter. The next one will be a really fun one. We're going to see the guys getting ready for the party. Let's just say, lots can go wrong when college aged guys try to bake, shop, and decorate. It should be up by next Saturday.


	17. Chapter 17

miracle fan 9245: Thank you so much for your review! I'm glad you like the story. The idea was bouncing around in my head for a while, but I never thought I would be good enough to write it, but then I decided to, since it was so different of a storyline. Also, I think you couldn't review before because I didn't realize that anonymous reviews are automatically blocked unless you change your settings. I didn't know that was how it worked until a few chapters into the story. Oh well, at least you can review now! Thanks again. (Oh yeah, and if you have a preference on a baby name, let me know. The choices are in chapter 15, I think.)

Emador: Glad you liked it, thanks for reviewing. I'll try to get the chapters up as fast as I can. Unfortunately, probably only like once a week now though. And Maddie's ordeal...well, it's not exactly over yet. :)

Meadow567: Glad you liked her grandma and Rachel. They'll be in it a little more later on. And her parents, well, I wouldn't want to give anything away, but yeah, you can expect them to come around, lol. Thanks for the review!

Nelliebly413672: Yeah, Maddie finally told her parents, lol. I'm glad you liked the shower planning, cause this whole chapter is more planning! Thanks for the review. Oh yeah, and at least you were only 4 when you lite the toaster on fire! I was a lot older than 4, lmao.

A/N: Baby shower planning time! This is a really fun chapter with no drama. The whole thing is the guys getting ready for the shower. Hope you enjoy and please review!

Chapter 17

Early Friday morning Laura got up and took a shower. Once she was ready for the day, she woke up Mac.

"Hey, Robbie," she said, lightly shaking him. "Time to get up."

"What?" he said groggily.

"Time to get up." He looked at the clock.

"Laura, it's five a.m. Why would I get up this early? There's no practice today."

"Did you forget that we're shopping for the baby shower?"

"No," he answered flatly. "Stores aren't even open yet."

"Today they are."

"Well, it doesn't mean we're going right when they open. I'm going back to bed," he said, rolling over and closing his eyes.

"Come on. If we wait, the stores will be even more crowded than they already are."

"Laura, go back to sleep," he said, not opening his eyes.

"Fine, don't get up," she said. Laura decided to leave anyway. She would come back later for the other guys.

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At eleven that morning, Gail and Buzz arrived at the dorms, ready to make the cake. Rizzo and the coneheads were taking over the baking. They had decided on making Maddie's favorite, a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting.

"Do you have everything, Rizzo?" Buzz asked.

"Yeah I think so. We didn't need much. I have a recipe right here." Gail took a look at it, and her eyes went wide.

"You're making the cake from scratch?"

"Yeah," Bah responded. "How else would we make it?"

"From a box."

"What? You can make cake from a box. Rizzo! Why didn't you get a cake in a box?" Bah asked.

"Well, I thought Maddie would appreciate this more."

"As long as it's cake, what difference does it make?" Pav asked.

"Yeah, after all, we do want it to be edible," commented Bah.

"It will be edible. As a matter of fact, it will be really good. And if we have trouble, Gail can help us," Rizzo said, looking at Gail who was now sitting on the couch, watching a Brady Bunch rerun.

"I'm not helping you guys."

"Well, if we need it, you will," Rizzo started.

"Nope. And you can thank my husband for that."

"Buzz. What did you do?" Pav asked.

"Nothing!" he said innocently. "Well, okay. Maybe I told Gail that we didn't need help from a girl. I said that we were perfectly capable of doing everything ourselves."

"And . . . " Gail prompted. Buzz rolled his eyes.

"And I called her Betty Crocker." Pav and Bah started laughing.

"Why'd you do that?" Bah asked. He knew Gail pretty well, and although she was a great cook, he knew she wouldn't appreciate being called Betty Crocker.

"I thought we could do everything ourselves."

"We can," affirmed Rizzo.

"I'll believe it when I see it," said Gail, turning her attention back to the TV.

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Rammer, Mark, and Jimmy were all at Mac's dorm, waiting for Laura so they could go shopping. No one had any clue where she was. Mac was starting to worry because she was there earlier, and he didn't even know she ever left. A few minutes later, the door opened and Laura walked in with four shopping bags.

"Hey guys," she said, dropping the bags the second she got into the room. "Those were heavy."

"Where the hell were you?" Mac asked.

"Shopping. I told you I wanted to get to the stores early. Since you didn't want to go, I did some shopping by myself."

"But you don't need anymore clothes. Your closet is full."

"I wasn't shopping for myself. I was Christmas shopping."

"Already?" Mark said, surprised.

"Yeah. There were a lot of sales today. I got most of the gifts I needed to."

"Did you get mine?" Mac asked, about to look in the bags.

"Yes! Don't look in there."

"Okay, okay. Sorry. I won't."

"Well, we better get going. It's really crowded out today."

"They can't be that crowded," said Rammer.

"Yeah, how crowded could the stores possibly be?" asked Jimmy.

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"We just put this in the bowl right?" Pav asked Rizzo, holding up the measured sugar.

"Yeah. Then we have to cream it with the butter." Pav dumped the sugar in the bowl and Bah got a spoon out.

"Don't you use the electric thing to mix it together?" asked Buzz.

"No I think you use a spoon. It doesn't say beat, it says cream," said Rizzo. Just then, Jack walked in the room.

"How are my Little Debbie's doing this lovely morning," Jack asked, really cheery, with some sarcasm.

"Watch it, OC," said Pav. "We are making this cake for your girlfriend." In the meantime, Bah was trying to cream the butter and sugar, but wasn't having much luck. Buzz was trying to help him, but was also struggling.

"Need some help there, Twinkies?" Jack joked.

"Not from you, thank you," replied Buzz. He turned to Gail. "Hey honey, can you please help us?"

"No thanks. I'm busy."

"The Brady Bunch is so not more important than helping us," whined Buzz.

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you called me Betty Crocker and said you didn't need my help."

"Ouch," commented Jack. "He called you Betty Crocker. That's almost like, derogatory."

"What the hell is wrong with Betty Crocker?" Buzz asked no one in particular.

"Nothing, but you shouldn't call your wife that. Especially when she cooks all your meals," Bah said, as everyone laughed.

"Are you done creaming that yet?" Rizzo asked Bah.

"No, the butter won't mix with the sugar. It's too hard."

"Let me see," said Rizzo, taking the spoon.

"Did you soften the butter before you put the sugar in?"

"No," answered Pav. "You didn't tell me to." Rizzo sighed.

"I didn't realize I had to tell you guys everything. Some things are common sense. Like, butter can't be creamed if it's rock hard."

"Well, it's not my fault I don't normally bake cakes."

"It's fine. I'll take care of it," Rizzo said.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It's so crowded. It's like a zoo in here," Rammer commented shortly after they arrived at the mall.

"I told you it would be busy today," Laura said.

"But the mall is never _this_ crowded, " said Mac.

"I tired to warn you guys that this is the biggest shopping day of the year, but you didn't believe me. Maybe next time, you'll listen."

"Let's just get this over with," Jimmy said.

"Where are we going first?" Mark wondered.

"There's a baby store down this way," Laura said, starting to lead the group. The three guys followed.

"Remind me again why we're doing this?" Rammer whispered to Mac. Laura heard and answered for him.

"Because you guys need to do something nice for Maddie so she forgives you for being jerks."

"Hey look!" Mark said. "There's the food court. Let's stop and get something to eat. I'm hungry." Mark started to walk toward it, with the other guys soon following.

"Hey. Get back here," Laura said, scolding them. "We're here to shop, and it's not even lunchtime. You just ate breakfast an hour ago."

"We're hockey players. We need to eat," reasoned Mac.

"I don't think so," Laura said, grabbing Mac's arm and pulling him away. "I promise we'll get lunch after we shop for a little while."

"Come on. Please?" Mac said, begging for something now.

"Later."

"Oh, fine." The guys all followed Laura again and went into the baby store.

"This place looks huge," said Jimmy when they walked in.

"Yeah, don't get lost, Rammer," Mark said.

"That only happened once. And it was because someone insisted everyone went somewhere else."

"Sure blame it on Phil."

"The guy who's practically clueless about everything," joked Jimmy. They were talking about the time that Rammer got lost because Phil had told him that the guys had all gone somewhere else and in reality they were waiting for him right where they said they would be.

"At least I found you eventually."

"After what? An hour?" asked Mac, laughing.

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"Time for the eggs," Rizzo announced.

"Can I crack one?" asked Bah, excitedly.

"I'll do the other," Buzz offered.

"Um, I don't know," said Rizzo hesitantly.

"Don't you trust us?"

"No, not really."

"At least you're honest," said Buzz. "But really, we won't mess up. I've cracked eggs before."

"Okay fine." Rizzo turned around to get the flour ready as Bah and Buzz cracked the eggs.

Jack was watching TV with Gail and turned around just as Bah got some of the shell from his egg in the bowl.

"Uh oh," he said quietly to Buzz.

"Get it out, hurry," Buzz whispered.

"Rizzo, it looks like they messed up after all," said Jack. Rizzo immediately turned to Buzz and Bah.

"Great. I knew I couldn't trust you. What'd you do, get some shell in there?"

"Sorry," apologized Bah.

"Yeah sure," said Rizzo, taking the egg shell out of the bowl. He handed Buzz the electric beater. "Beat this for two minutes, then add the vanilla and beat it again." Buzz did as he was told and started beating the cake batter. Pav got the vanilla out.

"Are you sure this is vanilla?" Pav asked before adding it to the batter.

"Yeah, it's vanilla," responded Buzz. "Even I know that."

"Well, it's brown. Is there something wrong with it?"

"I don't know," Buzz said, looking at it.

"I thought you knew what vanilla was."

"I do. It says pure vanilla extract right on the bottle," Buzz replied with a 'duh' expression, turning the bottle for Pav to read it. Pav rolled his eyes.

"Vanilla's supposed to be that color," Bah said.

"Okay. If you say so," Pav said, dumping it in.

"Now we add the flour mixture alternately with the milk and stir it," said Rizzo.

"What's the flour mixture?" Bah asked.

"The flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cocoa powder."

"How much do we add?"

"How am I supposed to know," responded Rizzo. "What do I look like, a cookbook?"

"Well, you knew everything else so far," Pav pointed out.

"That doesn't mean I'm an expert."

"Okay, so how much do we add at a time?"

"I told you. I don't know." Gail whispered something to Jack, and they both started laughing.

"What?" said Rizzo seriously. They continued laughing. After a minute, the guys were sick of it.

"Would you mind telling us what the hell is so funny?" Buzz said, a little irritated.

"You guys really are clueless, aren't you?" Gail said.

"Well, honey," Buzz said, stressing the honey, "maybe if you would help us out, we would know what to do."

"I thought you didn't need my help."

"Well, we do. Please help us. I'm really sorry for calling you Betty Crocker and I promise I'll never do it again."

"That's okay. I'll pass. It's much more entertaining watching the four little Pillsbury Doughboys try to make a cake."

"Hey, I take offense to that," said Bah, joking. "Rizzo here might be Pillsbury, but I'm not."

"Hey," said Rizzo pretending to be offended. Then he continued, joking, "Pillsbury's a pretty cool guy."

"Okay, fine. I have a better idea. Instead of Pillsbury or Little Debbie, you guys can be the four Hostess characters," said Gail.

"Yeah," agreed Jack. "Pav, you're the smallest, so you'll be Twinkie the Kid. Bah, you get to be Fruit Pie the Magician, Buzz, you're Happy Ho Ho, and Rizzo you have to be Captain Cupcake."

"OC, why am I Happy Ho Ho?" asked Buzz.

"Do I really need to answer that?" asked Jack. "Cause you are a happy ho ho."

"Captain Cupcake?" Rizzo questioned.

"Oh stop complaining. I could explain why each and every one of you are the character you are, but that would take all day and if I remember correctly, you all have something better to be doing," Jack said, looking at the bowl of cake batter.

"Well, for the record, I kinda like Fruit Pie the Magician," said Bah.

"You would," said Jack. Everyone laughed and the guys got back to baking the cake.

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Silky, Verchota, and Jannie were in charge of getting the decorations. The other guys that weren't shopping or baking were going to help them decorate once they bought the decorations.

"What should we get?" Silky wondered out loud.

"Let's get balloons," said Phil.

"I'm not blowing up tons and tons of balloons," protested Silky.

"They'd be Helium filled of course," Phil added.

"Yeah. Helium is the way to go," Jannie agreed. "I'll take 'em down."

"I think everyone will want to help with that," Phil said.

"Well, we bought them. We get first dibs."

"Pink or blue?" asked Silky.

"Well, both. We don't know whether she's having a boy or girl," said Jannie.

"What about getting a neutral color?" said Phil.

"I think pink and blue is better. Then we can have everything pink and blue," said Silky.

"Okay," Phil agreed.

"What else do we need?" asked Jannie.

"Streamers, and maybe a big congratulations balloon."

"Phil, is there something you're not telling us?" Silky said, laughing. Phil just looked confused. Silky continued, "I mean, are you a party planner on the side or something? You know way too much about throwing baby showers."

"My mom and sister planned a shower for my aunt a few years ago. They made me help buy decorations, prizes for games, and party favors."

"That's what we need!" exclaimed Silky. "Prizes."

"Let's get those candy cigars," said Jannie.

"How about real ones?" said Silky. "They're better."

"No way. It'll cost us a fortune. The candy ones are way cheaper."

"Yeah, I guess. But I still think real cigars would be a hit." Walking down the aisle with plates and napkins, Jannie found party hats and picked them up. He tried one on and looked at Phil and Silky.

"No way," said Silky. "No way in hell am I wearing ones of those. I don't care how much you pay me or how drunk I am."

"Speaking of which . . . we need beer," said Jannie.

"We're throwing a baby shower, not a keggar!" said Phil. "Even I realize that. We can't have beer. Besides, Maddie can't even drink it."

"We can," said Silky.

"We're not getting beer," said Phil.

"Since when did you become Mormon?" joked Jannie.

"Like I said before, this is a baby shower! We can't bring alcohol."

"So guess if we can't have beer, a stripper is out of the question," said Silky.

"Yeah, let's save the stripper for the Bachelor party," said Phil.

"I knew there was a good side of Jack getting married," joked Silky. "Now let's get the rest of the stuff."

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"This is a really cute game. Maybe the baby would like that," Mac said to Mark holding up a block game.

"Yeah. And it doesn't even matter whether the baby's a boy or girl."

"You can't get that," said Laura. "A toddler would have trouble playing with it, let alone a baby. Look for clothes or a baby mobile for a crib or something."

"You're no fun," said Mac. "When we have a kid, you're not going to stop me from spoiling the squirt with toys, even if it is a newborn." Right after Mac said this, he realized what he had said, and immediately looked away. Laura noticed it too, and wondered what he meant by it. Luckily, Mark broke the awkward silence.

"What about this?" he asked, holding up a soft yellow teddy bear.

"That's adorable," said Laura, rubbing it. "And it's so soft. Let's get that."

"This is cute," said Mac, who had wandered across the aisle to the clothes, and was now holding up a blue pajama set with a sports theme on the front.

"Yeah, but it would be too big for a newborn. Is there a smaller size?" asked Laura.

"Yeah," said Mac, pulling out a smaller one.

"It's definitely for a boy though," commented Mark.

"Let's get it anyway. OC will appreciate it and if they have a girl, Maddie can always exchange it for the pink one with rabbits."

"Bunnies," corrected Laura.

"What?"

"Sweetie, those are bunnies, not rabbits."

"Whatever." They picked out a few more outfits and some little baby toys.

"Okay, we've got quite a bit," said Laura. "Why don't we pay for this stuff and go eat lunch. We can finish shopping later."

"Sounds good to me," said Mark. "I'm starving."

"Speaking of food, where are Jimmy and Rammer?" wondered Mac.

"I don't know, I haven't seen them almost since we got here," said Laura.

"I think they went to look for wrapping paper," offered Mark.

"Let's go look for them. I don't know what could be taking so long," said Mac.

They walked over to the wrapping paper section, and then heard loud guys in the next aisle. There were two loud guys, none other than Jimmy and Rammer. They saw the two fake sword fighting with wrapping paper tubes.

"What are you two doing?" asked Mark.

"You're acting like children," said Laura.

"I take winner," called Mac. Laura and Mark looked at him. "What?" he asked, like nothing was wrong.

"Men," Laura said with a sigh, rolling her eyes. "Actually, let me rephrase that. Boys."

A few minutes later, the five were all in line. Laura was in front and turned around to ask Mac something, when she noticed all four guys were gone. She finally saw them. _Typical, _she thought. They were throwing plastic air filled kick balls at one another. Laura got out of line and walked over to them.

"Do you need constant supervision?" The guys ignored her. "I feel like I'm your mother or something. Stop playing dodge ball in the store!" Mac threw another ball at Rammer, but missed and hit Laura in the head instead.

"All right. That's it!" Laura picked up the ball and threw it at Mac, hitting him dead on.

"Wow. You've got a pretty good arm," Mac said surprised.

"Come on let's go. If we leave, we can get lunch," Laura bribed them.

"Okay, let's go," they said, putting the balls back in the bin.

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"Can I make a suggestion?" Gail asked when the guys started to make the frosting.

"We know that the cake needs to cool before we frost it. Rizzo already told us," Buzz explained.

"Not that."

"Well, we don't need your suggestions. You wouldn't help us before, and we managed without your help. We can finish by ourselves."

"Okay, fine."

The guys made the frosting and then proceeded to frost the cake. When they were almost done, Rizzo realized there wasn't enough frosting.

"Guys, there's not enough frosting."

"That's not good," said Bah, his mouth full of vanilla frosting.

"Maybe if you guys wouldn't have eaten it all, we'd have enough."

"Don't blame it all on us. You had some too," Buzz said.

"One small spoonful."

"I tried to warn you guys, but you didn't want to listen. I knew you wouldn't have enough," said Gail. "I was going to tell you to make extra, but my suggestion wasn't good enough."

"You're always right aren't you," Buzz said, walking over to her.

"Yeah, I am."

"Well, what am I going to do right now, miss smarty pants?" Gail didn't answer, but just looked at him. Buzz brought out his hand form behind his back and put a dab of frosting on her nose.

"Hey!" Gail got up and ran over to the bowl, which was empty. She saw the confectionary sugar on the counter and picked up that. Gail rubbed it on her hands and ran over to her husband, putting her hands on his face. He laughed.

"Hey!" After fooling around with the sugar for a few more minutes, and everyone making a mess, they were finally done.

"Hey Gail," Buzz said, grabbing her arm. "You got something right there," he said, pointing to her nose. The frosting was gone, but now she had sugar on it. Buzz wiped it off and gave her a quick kiss. "And I am sorry about calling you Betty Crocker."

"Don't worry about it. We were just having fun. Plus, now I have something to hold against you at a later date," she said, laughing. They shared a kiss before Buzz went back to finish frosting the cake.

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That night, the boys took care of decorating and wrapping the presents, and Laura and Gail got the shower games ready. The guys didn't know much about any of them, and the girls wanted to keep it that way. They were both afraid that if the guys knew what some of the games entailed, they wouldn't play.

After most of the guys left, Gail and Laura were still working. They wanted everything to be ready for the next day. Other than the cake, the two girls also took care of the other food. Keeping things simple, they decided on pizza, pop, and chicken wings. Once everything was ready, Laura left and Gail went to bed.

In the meantime, Jack was by himself. The guys didn't want Jack to see the presents, because some of them were as much for him as Maddie and the baby. The decorations and prizes were also sort of secret. Since he wasn't allowed to go to Buzz's to help set up for the party, he decided to get party favors instead.

Jack had absolutely no idea what to get. After an hour of walking around the store looking for something, he found chocolate "It's a boy" and "It's a girl" suckers. He figured everyone would like candy, so he got those. He also got little thank you cards to attach to them.

It was late, so Jack headed back to his room and called Maddie. She seemed happy to talk to him, and she couldn't wait to see him. He found out that Maddie was staying in a hotel because she didn't want to be near her family and she couldn't get a flight back any earlier than her scheduled one the next morning. Jack was a little thankful for that because of the surprise shower. They both said goodnight and hung up, both excited for the next day, but for different reasons.

A/N: Hope you liked it. The next chapter will be the shower!


	18. Chapter 18

miracle fan 9245: Thanks for reviewing. Glad you liked it!

Emador: Yeah, just wait until the baby's born, lol. Then the guys will seem really clueless then. I'm glad you liked it and thanks for the review.

Nelliebly413672: Yeah, Laura was like their mom. And you gotta love Buzzy, lol. I'm glad you liked it and thought it was funny. I needed a funny chapter before the next one, which won't be funny...DRAMA, dun dun dun. lol

Meadow567: Yeah, it'll get even better once Maddie has the baby, lol. Thanks for the review!

A/N: This chapter is sort of short, sorry. And nothing really exciting happens. So, it's not the greatest, but hopefully you guys will like it.

Chapter 18

Saturday, immediately following practice, Jack headed to the airport to pick Maddie up. The guys had convinced Herb to let them end a little early. They had even invited Herb, Craig, and Doc to the shower, but they had meetings after practice so they couldn't come.

Jack made it just in time. Looking on the board, he noticed that Maddie's flight had just landed. He waited at the gate for her to get off the plane. Once he saw her walking up the runway, he could barely keep from running over to her. Maddie spotted him right away, and ran over to him.

"Jack!" she said screamed, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. Bystanders probably thought they hadn't seen each other for months.

"Hey baby!" he said, then pulled her into a deep kiss. "I missed you so much," he said, after pulling away.

"I missed you too," Maddie said, getting a little teary eyed.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, I just really missed you and these past few days I've been really emotional. With everything that's been going on, things have just been really hard."

"I know. And I promise your parents will come around."

"I just wish they would get over it. My dad needs to realize that I love you and that's never changing."

"He will, I promise. But on a lighter note, I have a surprise for you."

"What? Where?"

"We have to leave the airport first. Let's go get your bags and go." Jack and Maddie walked hand in hand to the baggage terminal to get Maddie's suitcase.

"Hey Maddie, do you mind if we stop at Buzz and Gail's on the way home? I wanted to ask him something," Jack said once they were in the car.

"Do we have to?" Maddie asked. "I would rather not see the guys or anything today. I've decided that I'll talk to them tomorrow and that's when I'll let them apologize for being jerks. Plus, I want my surprise and I don't know how much longer I can wait."

"Please? I really need to stop over there."

"Well, me saying no isn't going to stop you. You're the one driving," Maddie snapped. "Sorry. I didn't mean it. I really don't mind if we stop. I'm just tired and this weekend has really been rough, but I shouldn't be taking it out on you. I'm sorry."

Jack took one hand off the wheel and squeezed her hand. "It's okay, don't worry about it. I know you've been through a lot, and I'm sorry I wasn't with you when you told your parents."

"It's fine. It was better that way anyway. My dad would have killed you, and we both wouldn't have wanted that to happen," Maddie joked.

A few minutes later, Jack and Maddie arrived at Buzz and Gail's apartment. Maddie noticed an extra car that looked a lot like Bah's.

"I'm going to stay in the car."

"Come on, Maddie. Gail will want to see you. You have to come in."

"Okay fine," she said giving in.

Walking up to the door, Maddie thought she saw the curtain move and someone look out the window. She thought it looked an awful lot like Rizzo. _Is half the team here or something? _she thought.

Jack knocked on the door and seconds later, Gail answered.

"Hi Maddie, how was your trip?"

"Not great," she answered honestly.

"Is Buzz here?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, come on in, guys."

Jack and Maddie followed her inside and as soon as they entered the living room, Maddie was shocked at the sight in front of her.

"Surprise," the team shouted. Maddie saw a big banner that said 'Congratulations' over the mantle, and there were pink and blue balloons and streamers everywhere.

"Oh my God," said Maddie, still trying to take everything in. "I don't believe this." Tears welled up in her eyes a little and she quickly wiped them away. Jack put his arm around her.

"Do you like it?" asked Rammer.

"I love it. Thank you guys."

"We all owe you a huge apology and we wanted to throw a baby shower to make it up to you," Rizzo explained.

"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have kept bugging you guys and asking for things."

"No you shouldn't have asked us," started Silky. "We should have been offering to help you out." Maddie smiled.

"We know baby showers are traditionally just for girls, but considering there are only two girls other than you, it wouldn't have been much of a party," said Jimmy.

"I can't believe you guys went to all this trouble. Everything looks great," she said, complementing on the decorations.

"See Jack. Maddie didn't even notice the sign was crooked," said Phil.

"Well, now she does," said Jack.

"Did you make it Philly?" Maddie asked.

"Yeah, but everyone helped."

"Well, I love it."

"Are you hungry?" asked Mac.

"What do you think? I'm pregnant. Of course I'm hungry."

"Good, cause we bought lots of food," said Gail.

"Yeah, and even though twenty guys have been in the house for a half hour, we still have some left," joked Laura.

"Do I smell chicken wings?"

"Yes you do."

"And pizza?"

"Yep." Maddie and the guys started walking into the kitchen, following Gail and Laura when Maddie noticed the cake on the table.

"You made me a cake too?"

"What's a party without a cake?" said Pav.

"It looks delicious." Maddie went to get a closer look, she could tell the top was decorated. There were little pink and blue blobs which somewhat resembled flowers and it said, 'Congradualtions Jack and Maddie.'

"Rizzo decorated the top," said Buzz, as Maddie read the cake. She decided not to mention that congratulations was spelled wrong.

"Don't try to pin that on me," said Rizzo. "Buzz wrote congratulations," he said, blaming Buzz for the misspelling.

"I love it anyway. Besides, it's the thought that counts."

"Let's hope you still think that after you eat some egg shell," joked Jack.

"We got it all out," said Bah. Maddie just laughed. After eating lunch, it was time for some games.

First, they played a memory game. Laura and Gail had baby items, and other things somewhat related to babies, including a bottle, a diaper, a pacifier, a condom, and various other things.

"Why is there a condom?" Silky asked.

"Well, because everyone knows that right after the baby's born, if you have unprotected sex, you could end up with another one nine months later," Laura responded.

"Well, I guess in nine months after that kid's born, you'll be celebrating another birth then," Silky told Jack and Maddie.

"I don't think so. Unless Jack wants to go through carrying it, there's no way," said Maddie laughing. "I'm waiting at least four years, even if it means being abstinent." Jack, who hadn't really been listening, suddenly looked up at hearing this.

"What is this now?" Maddie just laughed.

"Lucky for you, I was only joking."

The items were placed on the table and everyone had a minute to remember everything that they could. After they played the game, Gail and Laura tailed up the scores. To everyone's surprise, Jack won. For winning, he got a blue candy cigar and a mini rubber duck.

The next game they played was more of a history game. Gail and Laura made up questions pertaining to things going on around the time the guys were born. Buzz and Bah tied for that.

"Now it's time for our favorite game," Laura said with a mischievous look.

"Oh no," said Mac. "This doesn't sound good."

"How do we play?" Maddie asked.

"Sorry, but you can't play this one. You're going to help us judge," said Gail.

"Everyone needs a balloon," started Laura.

"I want a pink one," said Bah, grabbing the nearest pink balloon.

Everyone else grabbed a balloon and asked what to do with it.

"These are your babies," said Laura. "You have to put them under your shirts and do what we tell you."

"You guys are going to see what it's like to be pregnant," said Gail.

"And keep in mind that real babies are actually heavier than this, so when your wives are pregnant one day, just remember this game."

"So am I having a girl?" asked Bah.

"Sure," said Maddie.

"Can I make a face on mine?" asked Rizzo. Then it will seem more like a real baby."

"Go right ahead," said Gail. Rizzo used a magic marker and Mark wanted it next, followed by Jimmy. Soon everyone wanted to make faces on their 'babies'.

Once they were all done, the guys started putting them in their shirts. Gail, Laura, and Maddie began giving them directions. They had to tie their shoes, pick things up off the floor, carry food around the house, and do a number of other ridiculous things. About half of the balloons popped when they tied their shoes.

"Oh no, mine popped," said Bah. "What does that mean?"

"It's dead," said Phil, laughing.

"What? Moo moo's dead?" he asked sadly.

"Moo moo?" Silky asked. "Don't tell me you actually named that thing?"

"And why Moo moo?" asked Pav.

"A sheep says 'bah' and a cow says 'moo'," said Bah. The guys laughed.

"Hey I named mine too," said Rizzo. "But I named it Bruin, after the Bruins."

"Who else named theirs?" asked Gail. Jack raised his hand. "Give them all a bonus point."

"What did you name yours Jack?" Laura asked.

"Michael," he said, looking a little embarrassed.

"Is that what the baby's name is going to be?" Rizzo asked. "After me?"

"Not after you, but yeah, maybe. If it's a boy, that's an option."

They finished playing and at the end, Rizzo was the only one with his 'baby' left. Everyone else's had popped. They ate cake next and once Maddie and Jack were done, Laura mentioned that they had some presents to open.

"Presents?" Maddie asked. "I thought the cake and party were good, but presents too?"

"What's a party without presents?" said Mac. "Of course we got you guys presents."

Maddie and Jack opened tons of baby stuff. From little onsies and cute outfits, to rattles, bottles, and toys, they would hardly need to buy the baby anything other than a crib and stroller. Just as expected, Jack loved the blue sports outfit. Laura ended up getting the pink bunny outfit too, and Maddie loved that.

"This is adorable. Jack, don't you love it?"

"Yeah, now we just need one of each," he said, referring to the sex of the baby.

"Well, we figured you could have both outfits for now and return one later," said Laura.

"Well, this is too boyish," said Jack. "If we have a girl, she can wear it. Besides, I plan on raising my daughter to love hockey and sports in general."

"Are you gonna put your possible son in that?" asked Silky, joking.

"No way. This has rabbits on it. My son is not wearing a pink outfit with rabbits."

"They're bunnies," said Maddie. "Kids have bunnies, not rabbits."

"Whatever. My son will not wear pink. Girls can wear blue, but boys can't wear pink." Everyone laughed.

"You have one more present to open," said Gail, handing Maddie and Jack an envelope. Inside was a gift certificate to a restaurant and a bunch of little hand made coupons.

"Now you two can enjoy an evening out after the baby's born, and you get free babysitting services," said Gail.

"Thank you," said Maddie. She started looking at the rest of the coupons. They were all different offers to watch the baby and things like that. Rizzo and Buzz were even brave enough to offer a diaper change. There seemed to be something from everyone.

"We started out with only a few, but everyone wanted to make one," said Mac, explaining.

"Well, it looks like we'll have a night to ourselves every other night for a year," joked Maddie.

"I think we should let them work together. I don't know if I trust them to take care of the kid alone," said Jack. "Well, with the exception of the girls that is."

Once Jack and Maddie loaded up his car, they thanked everyone and drove back to the dorms. Maddie was so happy with the shower and still couldn't believe the guys would do that for her. She was really impressed with the whole thing. Now Maddie was more excited than ever for the baby. _Only two and a half more months, _she thought, smiling.

A/N: Hope you liked it. Again, sorry it's so short and nothing exciting happened, but next chapter you'll get drama and excitement. The next chapter will be up next weekend and scroll down for a little preview. It's a little spoilerish, so don't read it if you don't want to be spoiled.

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"Did you know he was coming?"

"Herb told me yesterday after practice."

"Yesterday."

"It's not my fault."

"You could have at least told me."

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"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. It was just a little cramp."

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"Is she okay?"

"I don't know. There was a lot of blood."

"Jack told me they're going to the hospital now."

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Okay, there's your little preview. Hope you liked it.


	19. Chapter 19

miracle fan 9245: That's okay, thanks for reviewing! I know how hard school can be, lol. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Nelliebly413672: Yeah, drama! I hope you like it and after this chapter, there's more drama to come! Thanks for the review.

Emador: Glad you liked it and the preview. Thanks for the review. Yeah, I read about the balloon game on this website and I thought it would be pretty funny. Then I just had to make the guys name them, lol. Thanks for the information about the not having sex for six weeks after the baby's born. I knew there was some sort of time thing, but I didn't know what it was. Thanks again for the review!

Meadow567: You are right about the first one. That was pretty obvious. I guess the second one will be a surprise! And Bruin is cute. I never thought of that as an actual name until you mentioned it. I like it though. Anyway, thanks for the reivew.

A/N: Time for the exciting chapter! I'm sorry to say that it's only half of it. The Christmas part and one of the preview parts will be next chapter because this chapter got long. Sorry about that, but I think you'll like this one!

Chapter 19

December 12, 1979

The three weeks after the baby shower went by incredibly fast for everyone. Between practices, games, and Christmas shopping, the team seemed to be busy all of the time. Maddie was also getting bigger, and Jack started treating her like a helpless child. He never wanted her doing anything too stressful, even though the doctor assured them everything was completely normal and Maddie and the baby were both in excellent condition.

Maddie had a doctor's appointment the day before, and they decided that induction was the best method to assure the baby's birth didn't interfere with the Olympics. Providing everything continued to go as well as it already had, the baby's birthday would be Thursday, January, 31. Maddie immediately bought a calender and marked "happy birthday baby" on the day.

After practice that afternoon, Maddie was just wrapping up in the locker room when Herb asked to see her in his office. She followed him up there, and he asked her to sit down a minute.

"I'm bringing in another player," Herb told her. At first, Maddie didn't think she heard him right. She didn't think he could possibly have meant another player for the Olympics, because they were only two months away. As if answering Maddie's thoughts, Herb said, "Tim Harrer. He's a good player and I need someone that's going to be looking to net."

"What?" Maddie asked, still a little surprised. "I mean, the games are only two months away. Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I need to do what's right for my team. And with the way Tim plays, he deserves a chance. It's not definite, but it's a possibility. We'll see how things go over the next few days." Maddie knew Herb was prone to playing games and testing people, and she just hoped that this was another one of them. Whether it was or not, she hoped Tim didn't stay on the team. Maddie didn't want to see any of her friends sent home. And with Rizzo struggling lately to find the net, she knew exactly who Herb was talking about.

Maddie left Herb's office a few minutes later, after Herb told her to keep the news about Tim quiet. He wanted to let the staff know, but he didn't want his players knowing until the morning.

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"What do you guys want to do tonight?" Bah asked in the locker room after practice.

"I can't do anything. I promised Laura that I would teach her how to play hockey. We're gonna have a little one on one game," Mac said.

"Can I join you guys?" asked Bah.

"Ew, Bah. Gross," Rammer said, thinking Mac wasn't really referring to hockey. "Get your own girl."

"Rammer, you're the one who's mind is in the gutter," said Mac. "I really am gonna play some hockey with her."

"Maybe I could get Gail to come. We could all play a fun game together."

"Maddie can play too," said Silky, trying to make sure she was included.

"Are you crazy? Maddie's not getting anywhere near the ice. Hockey is way too physical for someone that's pregnant." said Jack.

"We'll go easy on her, OC."

"No way am I even taking that chance. She can keep score or something."

"Why doesn't whoever wants to play later with the girls meet here at seven?" suggested Buzz.

After everyone agreed, the guys left the locker room and Jack went to find Maddie. She was just leaving Herb's office. Jack thought she looked a little worried about something, but after assuring him it was nothing, he shook it off.

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At seven, the guys were all ready to play a little easy hockey with Gail and Laura. Maddie had her skates on, even though Jack wouldn't let her set foot on the ice. Everything was going pretty well at first. Laura was having a little trouble skating, only because she hadn't been on skates in years. Once they were pretty much done playing, Maddie decided that she had enough of watching and went on the ice.

"Madison Alyssa Reynolds! What do you think you're doing on the ice? Get back in the box this instant," Jack yelled.

"Jack, I'm just skating a little. I promise I'll be careful, okay." Jack looked at her skeptically. "Would you holding my hand make you feel better?" she retorted.

"Maybe a little. But you still shouldn't be skating around. You're eight months pregnant."

"Seven and a half."

"Whatever." After arguing about it for a few more minutes, Maddie finally won. She skated around a little on the one end of the rink. About half of the guys were still playing on the other end.

"Hey Laura, you're getting pretty fast," said Mac.

"Yeah. I'm good at this. I've only fallen twice. I could probably beat you in a race," she joked.

"Want to try?"

"Yeah, let's go," said Laura, clearly up for the challenge. Mac and Laura started skating fast down the ice. Laura turned to look at Mac, who was right behind her. He was letting her win, and she knew it. To get back at him, she played along. Right in the middle of the ice, in Mac's path, she stopped. He hadn't reacted quick enough and slammed into her. Laura fell on the ice hard, hitting her head on Mac's skate.

"Well, cheap shotting seems to be your specialty, Mac," joked Jack.

"Very funny. You okay Laur?" Mac asked her, looking down at her, and ready to help her up. She stayed there for a few seconds, and just before Mac was ready to pick her up, she moved to get up herself.

"What just happened?" she asked, sounding disoriented. She looked up and had a very confused look on her face.

"Oh my God!" Mac gasped. Everyone else looked over and saw what Mac did. Laura had a huge gash on her forehead, and a pool of blood was forming on the ice.

"What's wrong?"

"You hit your head. Come here, let me see it. You're bleeding." Laura stood up, holding on to Mac for balance. She was a little dizzy. Everyone else stayed where they were, not really knowing what to do.

"It's pretty deep. Let's go get it cleaned up." As Mac started skating off the ice, holding Laura's hand, she fell. "Laura, are you all right?" She didn't move. "Laura, get up."

Maddie came over to Laura and Mac immediately, worried that Laura might be unconscious.

"Laura?" Maddie said, shaking her a little. "Laura, can you hear me?" Laura slowly started opening her eyes, and instantly made an attempt to get up. Maddie stopped her. "Laura stay there, okay. Your head is bleeding pretty bad. You need to sit up really slowly." Maddie slowly helped Laura into a sitting position. Her head seemed to be bleeding ever worse now. "Someone get me a towel or something," Maddie said.

Jimmy immediately rushed over with a towel, handing it to Maddie.

"I hope you don't want that back," Silky said, as Maddie put it on Laura's head. Mac and Jack carried Laura into the locker room, with Maddie and a few other guys following close behind. Laura blacked out again for a minute and this time came to, not remembering anything that happened.

Maddie did a few tests as Mac tried to control the bleeding. Laura could see okay, and her vision wasn't blurred, but she couldn't remember everyone's names. Mac was starting to get really worried.

"Will she be okay?" Mac asked.

"Yeah, but she needs stitches," said Maddie.

In the meantime, the boys that remained on the ice were talking about Laura's injury. Gail was pretty worried and wanted to go see how she was doing.

"Gail, stay here. They probably need some space and they don't need a crown around them," Buzz told her.

"Someone should probably clean up this blood," said Rammer, looking around to the other guys.

"Well, since you're the one that thought of it, we'll let you take care of it," said Philly.

Just then, Bah came back on the ice. He had went into the locker room before with the others. Maddie followed him out.

"Is she okay?" asked Gail.

"I don't know. There was a lot of blood," said Bah.

"Jack said they're going to the hospital now," said Maddie. "She needs stitches but she should be fine."

"Jack's driving them to the hospital so Mac can keep an eye on Laura. She lost consciousness a few times," explained Bah.

"She will be okay though, right?" asked Silky.

"Yeah. She'll be fine. Someone needs to clean this mess up though," said Maddie, referring to the blood. The guys just laughed.

Later that night, Jack finally got back from the hospital.

"Is Laura okay?" asked Maddie.

"Yeah. She needed eight stitches and the doctors had to run a few tests. It seems like she's having a bit of a problem with remembering certain things."

"Is she back?"

"Yeah, the doctor didn't think it was serious enough to keep her overnight. She's only forgetting minor things, and her head's okay. She is in pain though."

"Yeah, I bet. She hit her head pretty hard."

"Yeah, she had a little bump on her forehead to go with the cut and stitches."

"I'll have to go see her tomorrow. It's too late tonight."

"She's pretty tired. The painkillers she has are really strong."

Maddie was glad to hear that Laura was okay. She had to admit that when Laura was blacking out, she was getting a little scared. She had never seen that happen before, even though she knew it was possible.

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The next morning, the guys were stretching before practice when Tim Harrer skated on the ice to join them. Maddie noticed the guys all looked shocked, and wondered what he was doing. Jack looked over Maddie, as if silently asking, "Can you believe this?" Maddie tried to keep a really surprised look on her face, and she thought she was doing a good job. All through practice though, Jack kept giving her looks and Maddie wondered if he thought she knew about Tim coming.

After practice was over, Maddie went to talk to Herb and see what he thought about Tim. Tim didn't really seem to fit in with the team, and Maddie hoped Herb would notice and let him go. There was no such luck though, as she overheard Herb telling Tim that he was dressing for the game at Harvard the next night.

Maddie waited for Jack outside the locker room after practice. The guys were finished changing, and she could hear them talking, presumably about Tim. After Jack came out, he didn't say much to Maddie, and she knew something was wrong.

"What's wrong with you?" Maddie asked once they were in her room.

"I think you know."

"Not really. I mean, I don't know why you're taking this out on me."

"Did you know he was coming?" Maddie saw no point in trying to lie. Jack would see right through it.

"Herb told me yesterday after practice."

"Yesterday," Jack stated, sounding disgusted.

"It's not my fault," Maddie said in protest.

"You could have at least told me."

"Herb asked me not to."

"We're getting married."

"So?"

"So, usually when two people are getting married, they don't keep secrets from each other."

"Are you serious? You're going to tell me that just because we're getting married, we need to tell each other everything?" Maddie yelled.

"Yeah. And something like this. I thought you would at least tell me."

"Herb didn't want anyone knowing."

"So now you're siding with Herb over your own fiancee?"

"No! I don't like Herb bringing Tim here either, but there's nothing I can do about it. And warning you wouldn't have helped." Maddie knew Jack was pissed off, but that was no reason to start blaming her.

"I'm gonna go talk to some of the guys," Jack said, walking out and slamming the door.

Jack went down to Jimmy's room, and walked in. Rizzo, Mark, Mac, and Silky were there, talking about the Tim situation.

"Maddie knew."

"She did?" asked Silky. "Why didn't she tell us?"

"I don't know. But I'm pissed. We're getting married and she can't even tell me that Herb's playing with the team two months before the games."

"Maybe Herb told her not to," suggested Mark.

"Well he did. But she still should have told me."

"I hope you didn't start a fight with her over that," said Jimmy.

"Well, let's put it this way. She knows I'm not too happy."

"OC, you're an idiot. It's not Maddie's fault Tim is here. And Herb told her to keep quiet. Why can't you respect that she did what Herb asked."

"Yeah, it's not like she asked Tim to come," said Rizzo. Jack sighed.

"I guess you're right. I should go apologize." Jack talked to the guys a little longer and then left to apologize to Maddie.

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December 14, 1979

The team was in Milwaukee the next night, playing the IHL All Stars. Tim was there too, and the team was doing their best to avoid him. Even though Jack told Maddie he wasn't mad at her, Maddie knew he was still upset. After all, he knew his best friend could very well be sent home. Rizzo was just as upset, and very nervous before the game.

"You okay, Rizzo?" Maddie asked.

"I guess."

"It'll be okay," Maddie assured him.

"How can you be so sure? Herb's crazy. No one ever knows what he'll do," said Rizzo, trying to sound angry, but mainly just sounding sort of sad and hopeless.

"Rizzo, you're a great hockey player. Herb wouldn't have kept you this long if he didn't see something in you."

"You're so optimistic."

"You should be too. Good luck tonight," Maddie said and gave him a hug.

"I'll need it. I'm so nervous. I really need to play well tonight."

"You will."

Maddie wished she had been right. It wasn't that Rizzo played bad, but he hardly played at all. He went in for four shifts the entire game, and he was so nervous, he didn't do anything exceptionally well. At least he didn't mess up though. After the game, the whole team was so fed up with Herb and Tim, that they decided to do something about it. Maddie got on the bus and noticed Jack, Mac, Rizzo, and Mark waiting outside. She assumed they were going to talk to Herb.

A few minutes later, the four got back on the bus and Jack sat next to her giving her a look saying he would explain later.

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It was past midnight by the time the guys got back to the dorms. Jack explained what the guys told Herb and Maddie was happy to hear that Herb wasn't keeping Tim. The team was like a family, and Maddie wouldn't have it any other way.

Jack and Maddie were curled up in her bed, trying to stay warm. The past couple nights it had been very cold, and Maddie only hoped that it would snow soon.

In the middle of the night, Maddie woke up to her baby kicking. Since she was awake, she looked over out the window and saw pretty white snow falling.

"Jack," she said, shaking him. "Jack, wake up."

"What?" he answered, groggily.

"Wake up."

"Why?" He looked at the clock. "It's three a.m." Maddie pointed to the window.

"It's snowing!" she said excitedly.

"I see that. And I also can see the moon and stars are out." Maddie rolled her eyes.

"Let's go outside."

"Are you serious?" Maddie stared at him with a blank expression before answering.

"Of course I'm serious. Let's go build a snowman."

"Now?"

"No, next June," Maddie replied with sarcasm. "Come on. Get up."

"Fine. But I bet there's not enough snow to make a snowman."

"Then we'll make snow angels." Now Jack rolled his eyes and Maddie started getting dressed to go outside. "We went out for the first snowfall last year, so we have to this year. It's tradition."

"Just because we did it once, doesn't make it tradition," Jack said.

"Well, it will be now. Hurry up."

"Why? Is the snow going anywhere?" Jack said as Maddie opened the door and started heading down the hall to go outside.

Jack and Maddie made a few snow angels first, and then laid down, watching the stars. They talked about the baby and how excited they were for it to be born. Maddie got up a few minutes later, and began rolling a ball for the base of the snowman. She hoped there was enough snow for what she wanted to do. Jack made another ball, and Maddie told him to put it next to hers.

"Why don't we put them on top of each other?" Jack wondered.

"Cause there's going to be more than one snowman."

"How many are we making?" Jack asked, a little scared for the answer.

"Three. We're making a snow family. The mommy, the daddy, and the baby."

"Aw. How cute," Jack said, somewhat sarcastic.

"Yeah. It will be cute."

"I know," Jack said, and kissed Maddie's temple. "At least I don't have practice until ten tomorrow. We might be out here a long time."

By the time they finally finished building their family, it was going on five a.m. Maddie said she was tired again, and getting cold. Before she went in though, Jack threw a snowball at her back. After getting hit, Maddie turned around and gave Jack an evil stare, then bent down and began making her own snowball. She threw hers at Jack, hitting him in the chest.

They continued their mini snowball fight for a good fifteen minutes, laughing and screaming the whole time. Jack and Maddie knew they were probably waking everyone in the dorms up, but they didn't care. They were having too much fun. Once they were finally done though, they went inside and back to bed once again.

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To say Jack was tired the next morning was an understatement. He was exhausted and starting to get sick. Some of the guys seemed to notice.

"Late night, OC?" Rizzo asked.

"Just ask what he was doing?" teased Silky.

"Actually, I would like to know," said Mac. "After all, you woke me up at three a.m."

"Yeah, me too," said Bah.

"Was that you and Maddie outside?" asked Rammer. "We were wondering who was out that early in the morning," he said, referring to him and Phil.

"Maddie wanted to build a snowman. We ended up building the whole family." A few guys laughed. Once the guys made it out on the ice for practice, they had to skate Herbies for warmups. Jack was a little slower than normal and Herb noticed.

"Pick it up, OC." Jack tried to skate harder. It was difficult because his head hurt and he could barely breathe. He really needed cold medicine. For most of practice, he managed to do okay. Jack did have more mistakes than normal, but he hung in there and didn't get yelled at much. That was, until they scrimmaged.

The team was divided in two and the plan was to scrimmage for the last hour of practice. After fifteen minutes, Herb had seen enough.

"OC, what the hell are you doing out there? It looks like you forgot how to play defense overnight. This isn't the Special Olympics. For God sakes, stop the puck!" Herb yelled, distracting Jack more than anything. Some of his teammates stifled laughter at Herb's comment. Jack missed another, and Herb was done with him. "Get off the ice. Someone that can block a shot get in there."

Jack came off the ice and got a sympathetic look from Maddie. He slumped onto the bench and Herb gave him some "words of encouragement." A little while later, Jack skated again, this time doing much better though he felt worse. As soon as practice was over, Maddie came into the locker room with a bottle of cough and cold syrup. Jack knew what she was going to do.

"Drink up," she said, handing it to him.

"I don't want to," Jack said, and he sniffled and sounded stuffy.

"Come on. Be a big boy and take the medicine. It'll make you feel better."

"That medicine is nasty."

"I don't care. You need to take some."

"Fine," he said, drinking it quickly.

"Get changed and go to bed. You need some rest."

"We're still on for later, right OC?" Silky asked. The guys had plans to watch the Bruins game.

"Of course."

"I don't think so," Maddie said. "No going out for you tonight. You need to get better." Jack rolled his eyes, but knew he wasn't going to win this one.

A/N: I had you guys fooled with the blood thing! I hope you 're not disappointed it wasn;t more dramatic, but I promise next chapter is full of drama! The cramping part of the preview from last chapter really did have to do with Maddie, and that's going to be next chapter, cause this one was getting too long! You'll just have to see what happens. It's basically done being written, so maybe I'll post Monday if I get some good reviews. That is definitely the Christmas chapter, so if you're excited for it, review because I'll post it faster. :)

Oh yeah, the Special Olympic reference - I don't know if they were around in 1979, but let's just pretend for now that they were. It was the best smart remark I could come up with at the time, lol.


	20. Chapter 20

Emador: Glad you liked it and thanks for reviewing! Maddie's going to have a lot of mother hen moments coming up. She needs to practice mom skills, lol.

Nelliebly413672: Well, glad you're not mad about the blood thing. This chapter has more drama though. And just for you, I included a couple cute Mac and Laura moments! Hope you like them. :) Thanks for the review.

Meadow567: Yeah, but as you'll find out this chapter, not completely fooled. Hope you enjoy and thanks for the review!

A/N: Christmas chapter! Hope you enjoy and please review. Pretty please with sugar and a cherry on top. :)

Chapter 20

December 24, 1979

On Christmas Eve, the boys had off from practice. Most of them spent the morning shopping. Mac, Jack, and Buzz all still had to buy gifts for their girlfriends, and the guys still needed to pick up some gag gifts for the party later that evening. When everyone got back to the dorms, Maddie, Gail, and Laura were baking Christmas cookies.

"Those smell good," Rizzo said upon entering the room.

"Those look good," said Silky, seeing the cookies. He walked over toward them and Maddie slapped his hand.

"Not yet."

"Please?"

"Nope."

"Come on Maddie. You need to let us have cookies."

"Don't you want warm ones?"

"Yeah."

"Then wait two minutes. There's more chocolate chip coming out in a couple minutes."

"Yum. Thanks Maddie."

The guys waited around for their cookies, and soon the whole team was there. They could all smell the cookies from down the hall.

"Luckily we made a lot," said Laura. "We've got some pretty hungry guys."

"They're acting like they've never seen a cookie before," joked Gail.

"Well, these aren't just any cookies, they're Christmas cookies. I haven't seen them for a year."

"Well, these are just plain chocolate chip, Bah."

"That was just his excuse to eat them," said Maddie. No sooner did the two trays of cookies come out of the over, than they were gone. The guys cleaned off the tray so fast, the girls didn't even get warm ones.

"We're hiding the rest," said Gail to Maddie and Laura. They nodded in agreement.

"Do you have milk?" Mac asked.

"No," all three girls said in unison, knowing the milk would be gone too. Mac opened the refrigerator anyway.

"Liars," he said, getting an almost full carton of milk out. "Baby, can you get me glass?" he asked Laura, who was standing in front of the cupboard.

"Sure, here you go," Laura said handing him a glass.

"Thank you," he said, kissing her temple. "How's your head feeling today?"

"Better. I didn't need the pain killers today."

"That's good to hear." Laura got her stitches out three days ago, but she got headaches occasionally.

"I'm just mad I'm going to have a scar," said Laura.

"Well, guys dig girls with scars."

"Isn't it the other way around?"

"I don't know. But I think your scar is pretty sexy." Laura laughed.

"It's a big scar on my forehead. How is that sexy?"

"It just is," Mac said, catching her lips and kissing her. She kissed him back and pulled away once she remembered that everyone was in the room watching them.

"We'll continue this later," she whispered to Mac.

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Later on, the guys went to Doc and Velta's. They were having a little team party. Gail and Laura both came for a little while, but they both left shortly after dinner to spend time with their families. Before the girls left though, Buzz and Mac gave them their presents.

Gail loved her present from Buzz. It was a beautiful necklace with matching earrings. Buzz wanted something really special for her because he felt bad about being gone a lot during their first year of marriage. He also got her a Brady Bunch poster, which she also loved.

"I'm putting this in our room as soon as I get home."

"That's not going in our room," said Buzz.

"Where did you expect me to put it?" Gail asked.

"I don't know. Not in our room though." Gail gave him a sad face and he finally gave in. "Okay fine. It can go in our room until school starts again, then it's going in your classroom at school." Gail was a teacher, so Buzz figured the poster could go in her classroom.

"Okay," Gail agreed.

Next Mac gave Laura her present, which was a picture framed of them together, a Grease movie poster, because she was a huge John Travolta fan, and a mood ring. She absolutely loved it. Mac was glad Jack talked him out of getting her lingerie.

"Oh my God, this is beautiful," she said, referring to the picture frame. The picture of them was really cute, Mac was behind Laura and had his arms wrapped around her and his head on her shoulder. They were both smiling and looked really happy. "Thank you, baby," she said, pecking him on the cheek. Laura then opened her next gift.

"Is that a mood ring?" Silky asked after Laura opened it.

"Yeah. How did you know I wanted one?" she asked Mac.

"Santa told me." Laura looked over at Jimmy, thinking Jimmy was the Santa Mac was referring to. The truth was that Mac heard Laura tell Maddie that she wanted a mood ring the other day.

"Not that Santa," Mac said laughing. "The real Santa," he whispered. Laura smiled and put the mood ring on.

"Let's see what color it is," Mac said, grabbing her hand to take a look. "Dark blue."

"That means happy," Laura answered.

"I'm happy too," Mac said, kissing her.

"Stop playing tonsil hockey and finishing opening your presents," Silky yelled. Mac and Laura pulled away, laughing.

After the couples finished exchanging gifts, the guys wanted to exchange gag gifts. Laura and Gail left, both needing to go to their families houses.

Maddie was sitting at the table on Jack's lap watching the guys open their gifts, which was really funny. Baker got sun-in, because the guys always teased him about his blonde hair, Pav got a stuffed squirrel, Rammer got a baby bottle filled with beer, because he was the "baby" on the team, and Rizzo got and ugly round, brown pillow that represented a big meatball. The rest of the guys got gifts too, but many she didn't understand, because a lot were inside jokes between the guys. She laughed along with the rest of the guys anyway though.

Maddie was surprised when Jimmy handed her a package.

"Hey, this present has your name on it," Jimmy said, handing it to her. He had dressed up as Santa and handed out all the gifts.

"Thanks." Maddie read the tag. The gift was from the boys. _This is probably good, _Maddie thought opening it. She had no idea what it could be. Maddie took the lid off of the blue box and found a bell. She shook it and started laughing, knowing exactly what it meant.

"Now you can ring for our services," Jimmy said.

"Yeah, and it'll be a warning to run away fast and hide," Maddie joked. The guys laughed along with her, knowing that's what they would do.

"Now that I think about it, maybe we should have gotten you a chair," Silky joked. "Then you wouldn't be breaking Jack's lap."

"Are you implying that I'm heavy?" Maddie asked, doing her best to sound serious. Silk thought she was serious and started explaining himself.

"No. But you are pregnant. The weight from you and the baby-"

"Silky, I'm joking." A minute later, Maddie rang her bell. "Hey Silky, maybe you can get me a chair from the kitchen."

"Sure," he said, getting up to go into the kitchen.

"And here, I thought the bell would be defective," Maddie joked. "But, now that I know it isn't," she shook it again, "Jimmy can you get me the big bag that's in the back of the car?" Jimmy brought the big bag in and handed it to Maddie. By this time, Silky had gotten her a chair from the kitchen. Maddie pulled out a yellow kick ball from the bag and threw it to Rizzo. He caught it and read what it said, immediately understanding the gift.

"Aw, my baby," said Rizzo, hugging his kick ball. It said Bruin in black letters.

"Since some of you were so disappointed about popping your babies, I got you ones to keep," Maddie said. "These are plastic, so they shouldn't pop."

Bah's was white and Maddie colored black cow spots on it, and named it Moo Moo. The rest of the guys got creatively named and decorated balloons too, with the exception of Jack.

"Where's mine?" he asked Maddie.

"Right here," Maddie said, pointing to her stomach. "You have to wait a little longer. "But I do have something else for you."

Maddie got up this time to get a gift from under the tree. She handed Jack the little box. "I couldn't wait until tomorrow to give you this, so you have to open it now."

Jack tore off the wrapping paper and inside a box found a rare, autographed Bobby Orr card.

"Oh my God, Maddie. This is awesome. Where did you get this?" Jack asked, very excited.

"I have my way_s,_" Maddie replied.

"Well, I happen to have something for you too," said Jack.

"I thought we were exchanging gifts tomorrow," said Maddie.

"Well, you gave me your gift now, so I get to give you one of yours now too."

"One of mine?"

"Yeah, I have a few things for you." Jack had decided on giving her the eight track tapes that night. He knew she would be excited because she had looked everywhere for them and every store seemed to be sold out.

"Jack, thank you!" Maddie said, tearing apart the paper. "Where did you get these?"

"I have my ways," Jack replied, like Maddie had earlier.

A little while later, the boys were finishing opening their presents, when Jimmy handed out the last two gifts. They were the ones for Herb and Craig. Maddie already knew what they were, because Jack had told her a few days before.

Jokes were made about Craig's whistle and Herb's whip, and then Herb was ready to get going. Everyone else was going to stick around for a while.

"Let's play some football," Jack said, ready to get outside.

The guys all went outside and Maddie stayed in to help Velta clean up.

"You don't have to do that sweetie," said Velta as Maddie carried some dished to the kitchen. Maddie knew part of the reason for saying it was because she was eight months pregnant.

"I'm fine. Besides, I need to make myself useful somehow, and I can't lift a finger when Jack's around."

"I completely understand," Velta said smiling.

Maddie dried the dishes as Velta washed them. As she picked up some silverware, Maddie felt a sharp pain in her stomach and doubled over, dropping the silverware on the floor.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. It was just a little cramp," Maddie said, though unsure. She never felt pain like that before. A few minutes later, the pain still didn't go away and instead got increasingly worse.

"Maddie, go sit down," Velta said, taking her to the living room. "George, get in here," Velta yelled to her husband.

"What's wrong?" he asked, rushing into the living room.

"Maddie's in pain. It's her stomach."

"Is it continuous, Maddie?" Doc asked her.

Maddie couldn't respond because she was wincing from the pain so she nodded her head.

"How bad on a scale of one to ten?"

"Ten," she breathed out, wincing again and holding her stomach as the pain became sharper.

Doc checked her pulse, and then felt her stomach.

"She might be having contractions," Doc told Velta. "Go get Jack and call the hospital."

"What? Contractions? I can't be! I'm not scheduled to have the baby for another five weeks!" Maddie said in protest. "And I'm not even actually due for seven!"

Meanwhile, the guys were having a great time playing football. Jack didn't even hear Velta calling him at first.

"Jack . . . Jack!" It was then that he heard her, along with the other guys. He looked over to the porch where she was standing. Jack immediately noticed the look of concern on her face and knew something was wrong.

"It's Maddie," was all she said to get Jack to come running.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked, his face filled with worry as he ran behind Velta in the house.

"She's having contractions. We need to get her to a hospital."

"Oh my God," Jack said, fearing the worst. "But she's not supposed to have the baby until the end of January!"

He saw Maddie laying on the couch in pain. Jack ran over and grabbed her hand.

"Jack, something's happening. It hurts," Maddie said, having trouble breathing because of the pain.

"It's okay, baby. Everything's going to be okay," Jack said, comforting her and stroking her head. Somehow though, he had the feeling that everything wasn't okay.

"Jack, keep her calm. I'm going to call the hospital," Doc said, leaving the room.

Maddie kept squeezing Jack's hand, trying to compensate for the pain. Doc came back in the room a minute later.

"Jack, can you carry her out to my car? We're taking her to the hospital."

"Sure," Jack said, picking her up. He quickly went out the front door and put her in the back seat of Doc's car. Jack climbed in the backseat with her as Doc got in the driver's seat.

The rest of the boys were all watching, wondering what was going on.

"Is she okay?" Bah said, wondering out loud.

"I hope so," said Rammer.

"Velta, what's wrong?" Mac asked as she came outside.

"It looks like Maddie is having contractions. She may be in pre-term labor. Doc is driving them to the hospital."

"Oh my God. Will she be okay?" asked Jimmy.

"Will the baby be okay?" asked Rizzo.

"Hopefully everything will be fine," said Velta, trying to convince the boys. "Just keep playing football. I'm sure they'll call us once they know what's happening."

The guys tried to go back to playing, but none of them felt like it. They were all too worried about Maddie to have fun.

A/N: Cliffhanger! After all, I did promise some drama and excitement. And I know everyone wants to find out what's happening with the baby, so the more reviews I get, the faster I post!


	21. Chapter 21

Nelliebly413672: Glad you liked it. Sorry I couldn't update sooner, school sucks, lol. I'm also glad you liked the couple stuff. That was in there just for you. :) Thanks for the review.

Meadow567: Glad you liked the cliffhanger. There's another one this chapter, dun dun dun... I haven't actually read any of your story yet, but I'm going to start. Hopefully I'll have time this weekend to catch up on it:) I'll review when I do. Thanks for reviewing.

Emador: Glad you liked it! There's a bigger cliffy this time - and you'll really want me to update sooner! Thanks for the review.

A/N: This chapter has a lot of doctor jargon, and the whole thing is at the hospital. There's a list of what some things mean at the end, and all of the conditions and drugs are real.

A/N2: Please don't kill me!

Chapter 21

Once Doc, Jack, and Maddie arrived at the hospital, Doc went inside to get a wheelchair. Jack wheeled Maddie in, and Doc went to check in with the doctors. Maddie's contractions had slowed down, and they were a lot less painful now.

Just as Maddie started to tell Jack she was okay to leave, a young, good-looking doctor came over to see them, and asked Maddie questions about the pregnancy so far.

"Hi Madison, I'm Doctor Shepherd."

"Maddie, please." He nodded. "Where's Dr. Warner?" Maddie asked.

"He's away for the week. I'll be delivering your baby."

"I'm not having the baby tonight. The contractions stopped-"

"We're going to run some tests and check everything out to be safe."

"Aren't you a little young to be a doctor?" Jack asked. Maddie almost sensed a hint of jealousy from Jack. She would admit the doctor was a little cute, but she had no idea why Jack would be jealous.

"I can assure you that I'm very capable of delivering the baby. I'm not as young as you think. I've been delivering babies for seven years already, and I've lost track of the number."

"Oh," was all Jack said in response. The doctor turned back to Maddie.

"How many weeks are you?"

"Thirty-two," Maddie responded.

"Is this your first pregnancy?"

"Yes."

"Have you had any problems so far?"

"No, everything's been fine. I was right on schedule," Maddie said, starting to worry a little more, as she felt a little pain coming back.

"Okay. We'll get you all settled in your room, and I'll be up shortly. You're in room 127."

Jack wheeled Maddie upstairs to her room and Maddie changed into the gown and got into the bed.

"So, you don't like the doctor, do you?"

"He just seems so young Maddie."

"No, there's something else, isn't there?"

"No."

"You're jealous, aren't you?"

"Jealous?"

"Yeah. I can tell. But I don't understand why. He's just delivering the baby."

"Exactly. I don't want him, like . . . I don't know. Forget it."

"Jack, he delivers babies for a living. He won't see anything he doesn't see everyday," said Maddie laughing.

"Okay, fine make fun of me," Jack said, pretending to sound hurt.

"Come, here." Jack walked over to the side of Maddie's bed, and she gave him a lingering kiss. "No one could ever replace you anyway. Not even a cute doctor."

"So you admit it!" Jack joked. "You think he's cute."

"But you're hot," said Maddie, half whispering.

"Well, I still am not totally comfortable with him."

"What would change your mind? Knowing he's happily married with a kid?"

"No. Ten kids," said Jack, sounding serious. Maddie just laughed in response.

"Hi Maddie," Doctor Shepherd said, walking into the room and closing the door behind him. "I'm going to run a few tests and determine what's going on with the baby. Has your water broke?"

"No."

"That's a good sign. If you are in pre-term labor, we may be able to stop it," the doctor said, starting to check Maddie's vitals. He checked the baby's too, and reported a good fetal heart rate.

"So, do you have kids, doctor?" Jack asked, who had been intently watching the doctor do his job.

"Jack," Maddie warned, not wanting him to be nosy.

"No," Doctor Shepherd answered, responding to Jack's question.

"Oh. Well, are you going to?"

"Jack!" Maddie said again.

"Me, personally? No," the doctor said, joking. "But my wife is expecting in March."

"Oh. So you're married?" Jack asked, surprised.

"Yes."

"Why didn't you just ask him that from the beginning?" said Maddie, sarcastically. "Cause it's not like you weren't totally obvious." The doctor just laughed.

"It's okay. It happens all the time. With these good looks, a lot of fathers are worried their wives will run off with me after they give birth," he joked. Jack laughed, and was a little more at ease now, knowing the doctor was married. He also liked that the doctor was joking around. But now the doctor became serious, and started speaking in a language Jack could no longer understand. He just hoped Maddie could understand what he was saying.

"Well, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is you're in active pre-term labor and four centimeters dilated, but the good news is that we might be able to stop it since your water hasn't broke yet."

"Okay," Maddie said.

"There are a few things other things you should know now though. We need to do an ultrasound to check for a placental abruption. The fetal heart rate is fine, but I'm a little concerned because you are presenting with symptoms of an abruption. Your belly is hard, you experienced some pretty intense pain, and you are in pre-term labor, but you're not bleeding, which is good. The baby is anterior, so we won't need to turn it if you do deliver tonight."

"Is the baby going to be okay?" asked Jack.

"As long as everything goes according to my plan, their will be minimal complications," the doctor said.

_God, this guy is almost as cryptic as Herb, _Jack thought. _What the hell does he mean. According to his plan? Minimal complications?_

"We're going to start you on an IV and give you Brethine to attempt to stop the contractions. If it works, you'll be on bed rest until the baby's born."

Maddie sighed, not liking the sound of bed rest. The doctor said he would be right back and left the room. She started explaining what the doctor had said to Jack. After talking for a minute, Maddie felt a sharp pain again in her abdomen.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Maddie said, holding her stomach. Suddenly, she felt really wet. Jack, go get the doctor."

"Okay, we should probably see if everything's okay. I mean, if you're in pain again-"

"Jack get the doctor."

"Will you be okay if I leave for a minute? Cause we can probably press the emergency button and-"

"Jack! My water broke. Go get Doctor Shepherd!"

"Oh my God. Your water broke. I'll go get the doctor," Jack said, running out and Maddie tried to focus on something other than the pain. Seconds later they were back. The doctor checked Maddie's cervix and noticed she was now six centimeters dilated.

"Maddie, we're going to have to deliver. Once the water breaks, there's no way of stopping labor. And with the way you're progressing, you're having this baby tonight."

"Oh my God, no! It too early."

"Maddie, it's okay. We'll take good care of you and the baby." Maddie winced in pain again and Jack gave her his hand to hold. The doctor turned to the nurse that was now in the room.

"We need to monitor her and the baby. Any changes, get me immediately. Once she's ten centimeters, we're pushing. If she wants an epidural, get it now. Also, give her an injection of Betamethazone. We need to make sure the lungs are completely developed." The doctor left and the nurse followed his orders. After a minute of contractions, Maddie was okay.

"You better go tell Doc," said Maddie. Doc had been waiting in the waiting room to hear the news.

"Will you be okay?"

"Yeah. I can manage for a few minutes." The truth was that Maddie was still convinced the baby wasn't coming tonight, as was Jack.

"Can you call my parents too?" Maddie asked. "I would, but there's no phone in here."

"Yeah," Jack said, trying to hide his annoyance.

"Thank you." Maddie really appreciated him calling them for her and she knew that he wasn't really looking forward to it. They would want to know what was going on, even if they were still not thrilled with the thought of being grandparents. "Hey, at least they can't kill you through the phone," Maddie said smiling, trying to lighten the situation a bit.

"It's okay. I can call. After all, since we're getting married, I need to be able to talk to them eventually."

Jack left the room to make phone calls and tell Doc what was going on. After explaining the situation to him, Jack talked him into going home. Jack promised Doc that he would call once anything happened. Jack called his parents next. Until his dad answered sounding really groggy like he was just sleeping, Jack forgot about the time difference and that it as after midnight in Boston.

"Hello?"

"Hi dad."

"Jack, what's wrong?"

"Sorry about calling so late. I just wanted to let you know that Maddie went into labor a little while ago."

"The baby wanted to be a Christmas present, huh?"

"Apparently. I'm sorry for calling, I forgot how late it was."

"Don't worry about it. I'm glad you called. I hope the Maddie and the baby are going to be okay." Jack wondered why they wouldn't be and started getting a little worried.

"I'll call you as soon as anything happens."

"Okay Jack. Merry Christmas by the way."

"Yeah, you too."

Jack hung up, wondering whether to call Maddie's parents. It was so late, but like she said, they would probably appreciate knowing Maddie was in the hospital. He hesitantly dialed the number and waited for someone to answer.

"Hello?" Maddie's dad answered, sounded even less happy than his father.

"Hi Mr. Reynolds, it's Jack."

"What do you want? You do realize it's after midnight, right?"

_Great, he sounds really annoyed, _Jack thought. "Uh yeah, sorry. Maddie wanted me to call you. She's in the hospital."

"What? Is everything okay?"

"She had some contractions and is in pre-term labor. The doctor said the baby should be okay though."

"You know what Jack? I'm more concerned about Maddie right now. If anything happens to her because you couldn't keep it in your pants, you won't have it to use again," he said seriously.

"With all due respect Mr. Reynolds, I am not the only reason your daughter is pregnant. We both made decisions and a baby is the result. I don't care if you don't like me, but I would at least hope that you could put it behind you for your daughter and grandchild's sake. I'll call you tomorrow with an update and Merry Christmas," Jack huffed and hung up the phone.

_God that man pisses me off, _Jack thought. _What will make him realize that I love Maddie?_

Jack walked back into the room and Maddie immediately knew he called her parents.

"So my dad answered the phone, huh?"

"Yeah, how'd you guess?" Jack asked sarcastically.

"You're pissed."

"I'm sorry," Jack said walking over to her, grabbing her left hand and looking at the engagement ring. He sighed and sat down. "I just don't know what your dad has against me."

"He just feels the need to protect his oldest daughter."

"Will I ever be good enough for you?"

"It doesn't matter. Hopefully my family will come around, but I'm marrying you, my family's not, so it doesn't matter."

"Yeah I guess," Jack said shrugging.

"I haven't had a contraction for ten minutes now. I think the baby decided to wait."

"That's good." No sooner than they said that, Maddie had another contraction. This set was the worst yet. Maddie squeezed Jack's hand hard and she tried to counter the pain.

"I can't have this baby tonight," Maddie said, between the sharp pains in her stomach. "It's too early. We're not even ready. We don't have a crib yet, or a stroller, or a car seat."

"Maddie, don't worry about it. Try not to talk, it's making the pain worse."

"Jack, I'm so scared," said Maddie, realizing the baby was coming tonight. She was afraid the baby wouldn't be okay.

"It's okay, baby. I'm right here." Maddie started crying, but not because of the pain. "Everything's going to be okay," Jack said, trying to comfort her.

"Promise?" Maddie asked. Before Jack got to answer, the doctor walked in with three nurses close behind. Maddie was now ten centimeters dilated, and it was time to push.

Okay, Maddie. Next one push, okay." The next contraction came and Doctor Shepherd told her again to push, but she shook her head. "Maddie, you need to push."

"It's too early," Maddie said, shaking her head again.

"Do you want a chance to have a healthy baby?"

"It's too early."

"Maddie, listen to me. If you don't push, the baby will go into distress and we'll have to perform a C-section.

"No," Maddie said in protest.

"Then push."

"Come on Maddie. Push for me, baby," Jack said, starting to worry something bad would happen if she didn't.

"I can't," said Maddie crying. She was in so much pain now, and wished she didn't opt out of the epidural.

"Fetal heart rate's dropping," the nurse said.

"Come on Maddie. The baby's heart is tired and it's not getting enough oxygen. You need to get your baby out." Maddie finally gave in and pushed. "Good job Maddie. Keep going, you can do it."

"Fetal heart rate's eighty," the nurse reported.

"We need this baby out now," Doctor Shepherd told the nurse. "Push hard Maddie." She did as Jack kept talking to her calmly, encouraging her to push. Maddie kept squeezing Jack's hand harder and harder. Jack figured he'd have a bruise at this rate.

"Fetal heart rate, seventy-five."

"Only a few more good pushes, Maddie." She pushed hard again.

"I think we have an abruption," the doctor said.

"What does that mean?" Jack asked.

"It happens when the placenta detaches the uterus before the baby is born."

"Will the baby be okay?"

"If we get the baby out soon. But we also have to worry about excessive blood loss for Maddie."

"Seventy," the nurse said, referring to the fetal heart rate. "Mom's at fifty and dropping. BP's ninety over sixty."

"Get to units of O-neg ready," the doctor said. Maddie wasn't paying attention to what the doctor was saying, and was focused on pushing, but Jack was really starting to worry. He didn't know much, but it sounded like Maddie might need a transfusion, and he was getting really worried.

"Come on, baby," Jack said, to Maddie.

"Maddie, two more good pushes," Doctor Shepherd told her. Maddie pushed, but was getting really tired from the blood she lost.

"Head's crowning," the doctor said, as he took the forceps the nurse handed him. "One more Maddie. Push now!" Maddie pushed hard and the baby came out.

"Congratulations, you have a baby girl," the nurse said, taking the baby from the doctor. Maddie was out of breath, but nevertheless excited that the baby was out. Jack kissed her forehead and they smiled at each, both very happy and excited. Maddie tried to look up and around for the baby, and saw a nurse holding her.

"Maddie lay back down. We need to get the placenta out. This is the easy part. I need some light, easy pushes."

"Wait. The baby!"

"Maddie, it's okay. Just get the placenta out. You're bleeding and the faster we get this out, the faster you will clot. I don't want you to lose any more blood."

"But the baby! Why isn't she crying? She's supposed to be crying!" She looked at Jack as he was watching the nurses with the baby, and noticed that Jack looked scared. Maddie tried to sit up again to see the baby. All she saw were nurses crowded around, and another doctor who had recently come in the room. Jack and Maddie could both hear parts of the conversation between the other doctor and nurses, but she didn't know what they were saying. Jack started to walk over to the baby so he could see her. All he could see were the nurses around her, ready with tubes and other devices that looked to be way too big for the baby.

"Shows signs of apnea. We need to intubate her and get her on a respirator," a nurse said. "Heart rate's still seventy. She might have PDA."

"Maddie lay down," Doctor Shepherd said.

"Why isn't the baby crying?" Maddie asked, starting to cry herself. "Jack, why isn't she crying?" she asked again, through tears, fearing the worst. All Maddie could think about was the baby.

"She lost too much blood, she's going into shock," Dr. Shepherd said as Maddie slipped out of consciousness.

A/N: Okay, I know I'm mean, lol. Sorry about the cliffhanger. Please review! Don't make me beg, cause I will. Next chapter will be next week, unless I get at least lots of reviews, then Monday.

Here's a little list of what some things mean...

Abruption: placenta breaks off uterine wall before the baby is born - it can cause a lot of blood loss

baby being anterior: baby is head down

Brethine: helps stop contractions in cases of pre-term labor

Betamethazone: drug to help develop baby's lungs if pre mature - helps to produce surfactant which is a chemical that the lungs need to work properly

apnea: newborns who don't take at least one breath in twenty seconds

PDA: Patent Ductus Arteriosus - when the ductus arteriosus (a blood vessel connecting the pulmonary artery to the aorta) doesn't close after birth like it normally does - can result in a heart murmer

Now, before you kill me, I'm running away and hiding.


	22. Chapter 22

miracle fan 9245: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you liked it. And you're one step ahead of me...you'll find out the baby's name this chapter. Hope you enjoy.

Meadow567: Thanks. I wanted to add stuff in about after the baby was born to make it more realistic. Glad you liked it. And yes, Dr. Shepherd does look a lot like someone named Matthew Fox, lol. I love Lost, and Jack for the matter. Enjoy the chapter!

Nelliebly413672: Thanks for the review. I was actually thinkning more of Matthew Foz when I wrote Dr. Shepherd, but either way, they're both good, lol. Hope you like this one too.

Emador: Well, thank you for not punishing me and reviewing, lol. And I'm sorry you weren't too happy with me leaving the cliffy, but I promise this chapter doesn't have one! Enjoy!

A/N: Sorry I couldn't get this up sooner, my power went out last night. Actually, only some of my power. The tv worked, and heat, but the lights were out. The computer actually worked too, but since the story is on my laptop and the outlets in the living room and my room didn't work, I couldn't really use it. If the battery was charged I could have, but my sister decided to use my laptop after school and she didn't plug it in so the battery was gone. Luckily, the power came back on at 8:50, in time for Grey's and ER, and after that I just had to play in the snow, lol. First snowfall of the year and it's so exciting! There are so many trees down though, that our street looks like a jungle. It's really pretty though. And if I was still in high school, I would have a snow day. But college is never, ever closed. Anyway, you guys probably don't really care and just want to read the chapter so go ahead and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 22

As soon as Jack heard Doctor Shepherd say that Maddie was going into shock, he turned his attention back to her.

"Maddie. Maddie?" Jack said, hoping she'd wake up as he walked over to her bedside. "What's happening?" he asked Doctor Shepherd.

"She's unconscious and going into shock. We need to stop this bleeding."

"She'll be okay, right?"

"The sooner we stop the bleeding, the better." The doctor continued to work on Maddie and Jack heard a cry from across the room. He rushed over to where the nurses we standing with his daughter.

"Wow. I guess this little one does have a good set of lungs," a nurse commented.

"Heart rate's up to ninety," another said.

"Is she okay?" Jack asked.

"She's stable right now. We need to keep her on the monitor and run a few tests, but she's crying which is a good sign. We're going to take her to the NICU now." Just then, Maddie's heart rate monitor started beeping.

"What's happening?" Jack asked, though his question was ignored. Doctor Shepherd continued to ignore Jack as he was giving the nurse orders. "Is she okay?" Jack tried again.

"Bring him to the NICU with the baby," the doctor told one of the nurses. "I want him out of here."

"Come with us, Mr. O'Callahan," the nurse said, lightly pulling his arm. Jack didn't budge.

"I want to be with Maddie."

"The doctor needs to work on her. You shouldn't-"

"I need to be with her," Jack said louder.

"Mr. O'Callahan, I will take good care of your fiancee. I promise I will do everything I can to make sure she's okay, but you need to leave. I think she would want someone with the baby." Jack knew Doctor Shepherd was right. Maddie would want him to stay with their daughter.

"You'll let me know when something happens, right?"

"Yes," the doctor said, continuing to focus on Maddie. Jack reluctantly followed the nurses down the hall. When the nurses took that baby into the NCU, Jack had to wait in the waiting room just outside. There were windows so he could watch what the nurses and neonatologists were doing. He could not stand still though, and kept pacing back and forth, his thoughts drifting to both Maddie and their daughter.

_God, there was so much blood. What if they can't stop the bleeding? What if Maddie doesn't wake up? I love her so much, and I need her to be okay. _Jack noticed the doctors and nurses surrounding his baby girl, and his thoughts went to her. _She's so tiny. Will she be okay? There are so many tubes and machines. She's just a baby. She shouldn't have to go through all of this._

Overwhelmed by his fears and thoughts Jack started crying. As soon as he realized that he was crying, Jack turned on his tough guy side. _What am I doing crying? Everything will be fine. Nothing bad will happen. It can't. They'll both be okay, won't they? _Jack thought, trying to assure himself. As Jack wiped the tears from his face, he heard the door open and immediately recognized Doctor Shepherd's voice.

"Mr. O'Callahan." Jack turned around and immediately noticed the concerned look on the doctor's face. "I have some bad news."

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"Do you think we should go to the hospital?" Mac asked the guys when they got back to the dorms that night. Rizzo, Jimmy, and Bah were with him.

"No. Being there won't help at all. It won't make Maddie have the baby any faster," Rizzo pointed out.

"Yeah, but I'm really worried about Maddie. I would have thought Jack would have called when something happened. It's been two hours," Bah said, looking at the clock on the wall.

"Do you think the baby just pops out when they get to the hospital?" Jimmy asked. "Sometimes it can take twelve hours."

"Twelve hours!" exclaimed Bah.

"She might not have the baby until tomorrow?" asked Mac.

"Well, it's already after midnight. She'll probably have it sometime today," Jimmy said.

"Yeah, it is after midnight," Rizzo said. "Merry Christmas, guys."

"Merry Christmas Rizzo," they all said back.

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"What is it?" Jack asked, getting very worried. The look on Doctor Shepherd's face wasn't comforting at all. The doctor sat down in a chair and motioned for Jack to sit as well. Once he did, the doctor continued.

"Maddie lost a lot of blood. We tried to stop it before it got too bad, but unfortunately-"

"Oh my God," Jack murmured, fearing the worst.

"She suffered some damage to her uterus. She's still unconscious right now, but we're hoping that she'll wake up soon."

"She'll be okay though?" Jack asked, relieved to hear she was at least alive.

"She should be okay, but unfortunately she may not be able to have any more children."

"Are you sure?" Jack asked, hoping there was still a possibility. He knew Maddie wanted more kids someday, and he did too.

"It's not definite, but the chances that she can get pregnant again are small. At least she stopped bleeding before we had to perform a hysterectomy, because then she would have had no chance."

"When will she wake up?"

"There's no telling. It could be a day, it could be a week. You can go in now if you'd like."

"Okay, thank you. Can I see the baby first?" Jack asked, excited to hold his daughter for the first time.

Doctor Shepherd told Jack to follow him and they went into the room where the tests were being done. The nurses were finishing up on a test when Jack got to the side of the box his daughter was in. She was crying and didn't look happy.

"I'm almost done," the nurse said in a baby voice, while she took some blood from the baby. Then she turned to Jack. "You have a precious baby. She has quite the temper though. She hasn't stop crying since she realized what those little lungs could do." Jack smiled, knowing exactly where the temper came from. "You can say hi if you want."

Jack looked down at the baby, and suddenly he was really scared. She was so tiny, and Jack had no idea what to do. _How am I going to be a dad? I just learned how to take care of myself, and now I have the responsibility of taking care of a baby. What if I mess up and she turns into a juvenile delinquent or a crack whore? _he thought. _Even worse, what if she doesn't survive to her first birthday because I'm a sucky dad and can't do it? _

The nurse interrupted his thoughts, "You can talk to her. She won't understand you, but she will recognize your voice and may even stop crying." Jack looked at the nurse skeptically, but decided to try it. He reached out and touched the baby's tiny hand, which was only the size of his finger. Her skin was so soft though.

"Hi. I'm your daddy." The baby cried louder, and Jack thought he was doing something wrong. After seeing a look of encouragement on the nurses face, he continued. "Shhh, it's okay. Stop crying. I'm right here." Jack softly rubbed the baby's arm and she slowly quieted down. "Yeah, that's it." Once she was totally quiet, Jack started talking to her again. "I'm your daddy," he said smiling, liking the way it sounded.

After talking to her for a couple minutes, he asked if he could take the baby to Maddie's room. The nurse said it was fine as long as she remained on the heart and lung monitor. They wanted to make sure she was doing okay. Jack agreed and the nurse told him that she would bring the baby down in a few minutes.

Jack got to Maddie's room and went in right away, hoping she would be awake. She wasn't yet though, so Jack sat right next to her bed and took her hand.

"Hey Maddie. Please wake up. We have a baby now. She's so beautiful. She also wants to meet you. She's the cutest little thing, but so tiny. We made the most beautiful baby and looks just like you."

"I was hoping she'd look like you," a groggy sounding Maddie said.

"Hey, you're awake," Jack said, looking up to see her smile.

"What happened?"

"You lost a lot of blood and went into shock. You had me really worried. Between you and the baby . . . " Jack trailed off.

"Is she okay? Where is she?" Maddie asked, concerned.

"They had to run a few tests, and they're keeping her on a monitor, but it looks like she'll be okay. How are you feeling?"

"Tired. Can I see her?" Jack smiled at how insistent she was to see the baby.

"The nurse is bringing her in soon."

"Good," Maddie replied with a smile. Jack then he remembered what he needed to tell Maddie about what the doctor said earlier. He didn't know how to break it to her.

"Maddie?"

"Yeah?"

"When you were bleeding before, there was some internal damage. To your uterus." Jack paused before continuing. "They don't know if we'll be able to have any more kids."

"Oh," Maddie said, looking a little sad.

"I'm sorry." Maddie then gave him a soft smile.

"Well, I'm not letting that ruin today. I guess we'll just have to make the most out of the one we have, and spoil her endlessly."

"Well, not too much though. I'm not raising a brat. Especially with the temper I see her having."

"Temper? Why do you say that?"

Jack told Maddie the story of what happened earlier. Maddie just laughed.

"At least we have a long time before teenage years. That's going to be Hell," Maddie said.

"Yeah," Jack agreed.

"So she looks like me?"

"Yeah. She has the same cute little nose, and your face. Her eyes are blue though."

"All babies have blue eyes when they're first born. I hope she keeps your eyes though," Maddie said, smiling.

"She has hair."

"Really?"

"Just a little. It's light, and it looks a little curly."

Just then, the nurse walked in with the baby. Maddie's face immediately lit up.

"Isn't she beautiful?"

"Oh my God! She's perfect."

"Do you want to hold her?" the nurse asked.

"Yes please." The nurse handed Maddie the baby. Before the nurse left the room, she told Jack and Maddie what was going on with the baby's condition so far. Once she was finished, Maddie had a few questions.

"How much does she weigh?"

"Four pounds, six ounces. She's seventeen inches long."

"She's small."

"Premies usually are. But within a week or two, she should be right up there. She's a tough little girl."

"What time was she born?" Jack asked, just realizing that it was almost two in the morning and Christmas.

"Eleven twenty-seven. So she missed having a Christmas birthday by a half hour." The nurse left the room then, so Maddie and Jack could have some time alone with the baby.

"Hi sweetie," Maddie started, kissing the baby's forehead. "I'm your mommy. You're the cutest baby. I love you so much. And you need a name," Maddie said, looking up at Jack, who was smiling at her with the baby. "What do you think?"

"You went through a lot having her. I think you should pick her name."

"How about Isabelle then? Isabelle Rose O'Callahan."

"I like it," said Jack.

"Me too."

"Hear that Izzy. That's your name. Do you like it?" Jack asked the baby, who just responded with a yawn.

"Looks like she's tired."

The doctor came in a few minutes later to get the baby. They wanted the baby to have some rest in the NICU, because they were still worried about her developing problems. Maddie tried to convince Jack to go back to the dorms and get some sleep, but he insisted on staying with Maddie. She was too tired to argue and fell asleep almost immediately. Jack fell asleep shortly after, in the chair next to her bed.

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Just before nine on Christmas morning, Maddie woke up to see Jack smiling at her.

"Merry Christmas, baby," Jack said.

"Merry Christmas."

"Your breakfast just came a few minutes ago. The nurse is also going to bring Izzy in soon so you can feed her."

"Is she still doing good?"

"I guess they're still waiting on a few test results, but from what they know right now, she's doing really well."

"Good. Have you called your parents yet?"

"Yeah, a few hours ago. I couldn't wait to tell them. They wanted me to tell you congratulations."

"I'll have to call them later. My parents will probably want to know too. At least, how I'm doing."

"I have to call Rizzo and have him tell the guys. The guys are probably all wondering what's going on."

"If you want, you can go back and hang out with the guys for a while though."

"No way. And miss spending Christmas with my two favorite girls in the world? I don't think so." Maddie smiled.

Before Maddie had to feed the baby, she decided to call her parents, but there was no answer. Surprisingly, there was no answer at Jack's parents either.

"It's Christmas morning. Where did they all go?" Maddie wondered out loud.

"Maybe we'll have better luck with Rizzo," Jack suggested.

Rizzo was very happy to hear from Jack. Jack heard a few guys in the background, wanting to hear the news. Rizzo promised to tell everyone what was going on, and he said he would let Doc, Herb, and Craig know too. Maddie also wanted Rizzo to make sure Gail and Laura heard the news.

By the time Jack and Maddie were done on the phone, it was time to feed the baby and fill out the birth certificate form. Around eleven that morning, the baby was back in the NICU sleeping. If everything went well, Isabelle would be moved to the regular nursery the next day. There was a knock on the door and Jack and Maddie looked up to see Rizzo.

"Rizzo!" Maddie said excitedly.

"Hey Rizzo," Jack said, looking surprised to see him.

"Hey," he said walking over and giving Maddie a hug. "I hope you don't mind that we came to visit. We missed you."

"We?" Maddie asked as more guys piled into the room. It looked as if half the team was there. All she could do was smile.

"They wouldn't let everyone come up at once. So we had to split in two groups. Even then we had to sneak some people up here," Rizzo said.

The guys were all concerned about Maddie and the baby. Maddie explained everything to them as best as she could, and the guys stayed to talk for a little while. They were all hoping to see the baby, but Maddie told them to come back a different day to see her. About an hour later, the entire team made it up to see Maddie and everyone was gone. The only two people she didn't see were Mac and Buzz. Rizzo explained that they were coming up the next day with Gail and Laura. Both girls figured Maddie could use the rest, which she could. Maddie even talked Jack into leaving for a while.

"Jack. I'm exhausted. Please go. I'll just be sleeping if you're here. You can rest or do whatever and come back later."

"Okay fine. I'll be back in a few hours. I love you."

"I love you too." Jack kissed her and finally pulled away.

"If anything happens or you need anything, call me."

"I will," Maddie assured him.

Minutes after he left, Maddie was fast asleep.

A/N: hope you liked it. I know it may have been a little slow and boring or whatever, but next chapter is the last hospital chapter and you'll see more of the guys and Laura and Gail. Please review!


	23. Chapter 23

Meadow567: I think you're onto something, lol. And I'm glad I kept you in suspense about Maddie. I wanted my readers to get scared, lol. Thanks for reviewing. And about Lost...I agree with everything you said, lol. This weeks episode looks good. I'm excited.

Nelliebly413672: There are more cute father/daughter moments to come! And more with the team and baby too. Thanks for the review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Emador: Glad you liked it, thanks for reviewing. This is another cute one, at least I think so. Hope you enjoy.

A/N: Sorry I couldn't get this up sooner, I had a rough week. My power went out about an hour after I posted the last chapter, and it was out for a week. We got a massive snowstorm, you probably saw it on the news. That's Buffalo weather for you. My family was literally living at a neighbors house for the week. Once I got power again, I had so much homework to do it wasn't funny. Anyway, I'm finally posting this. Hope you enjoy, please review!

Chapter 23

A couple hours later, Jack came back to the hospital and Maddie was feeding the baby.

"Hey," Jack said walking in, giving Maddie a quick kiss, then kissing the baby's forehead. "How's my little girl doing?"

"She's good. The doctor said that if she keeps eating the way is, she'll be okay to go home before New Year's."

"Good. I can't wait to have my little angel at home."

They were both quiet for a minute, watching the baby. Once Izzy was done eating, Maddie started rubbing the baby's back to burp her.

"Did you ever think we'd get the baby as a Christmas present?" Maddie asked.

"Never. Speaking of which, I still have a little something for you," Jack said, getting a wrapped gift from one of her drawers. He had put it in there earlier. Maddie handed Izzy to Jack and took the gift. She opened it and started laughing.

"Oh my God. Jack this is great!" It was Maddie's all time favorite game, Candyland.

"I thought you would like it."

"Yeah. I can play with Izzy once she's a little older."

"We can play right now if you want," Jack suggested.

"Okay, but first, can you get me an ice cream sandwich from the cafeteria? I really want one."

"I thought the cravings were only a pregnancy thing," Jack commented, smiling.

"Well, apparently not. Please?"

"Sure." Jack handed Maddie the baby and went to get the ice cream.

Jack was waiting for the elevator, and the doors finally opened, revealing four people Jack was very surprised to see. It was Maddie's mom, grandmother, and sister.

"Hi," a very surprised Jack, said.

"Hi Jack. Fancy seeing you here," Rachel joked.

"Yeah," Jack started, still surprised everyone was there.

"Hi Jack! How are you?" Maddie's grandmother asked, clearly happy to see him.

"I'm good. Surprised that all of you are here though."

"After you called last night, we wanted to get here as soon as possible," said Mrs. Reynolds.

"Is Maddie okay?" asked Rachel.

"Yeah, she's doing great actually. She's in her room right now."

"Is the baby okay?" asked Mrs. Reynolds.

"Yeah. A little small, but she's fine." They had wanted to hear all the details about what happened and Jack explained everything.

"Where's my great-granddaughter?" Maddie's grandmother finally asked.

"The baby might be sleeping by now, but I'll take you to Maddie's room." Jack led the way to Maddie's room, and then asked about Mr. Reynolds.

"He's here. Just parking the car." No sooner did Mrs. Reynolds answer him then Mr. Reynolds called them from down the hallway.

"Hi Mr. Reynolds," Jack said politely.

"Hi Jack," he replied in a serious but sort of nice tone.

"This is her room," Jack said, as everyone was standing outside the door.

"Can I talk to you for a minute, Jack?" Mr. Reynolds asked.

"Sure," Jack said, as he stepped away from the door and let the other three go in. Jack and Mr. Reynolds went downstairs to get Maddie's ice cream and there was an awkward silence at first, until Jack spoke up.

"Look Mr. Reynolds, I-"

"No Jack, listen to me," Mr. Reynolds interrupted. "First of all, it's Mark. If you're going to be marrying my daughter, there's no reason to call me by my last name." He paused for a minute before continuing. "Second, I'm sorry for being a jerk about everything. There was no need for me to act the way I did. I should have given you a chance and shouldn't have been so hard on you and Maddie."

Jack was so taken aback by the apology, he barely knew what to say. Luckily, he didn't need to say anything.

"I wasn't happy about Maddie getting pregnant, but I think I was just trying to hold onto her being my little girl forever."

"Mr. Reynolds, I swear on my life that I will take good care of Maddie and never hurt her. I love her more than anything in the world. Well, with the exception of my daughter. And I will never, ever do anything to hurt her."

"I know, Jack. I do trust you. I realize that Maddie loves you, and that's good enough for me. I'm sorry I didn't give you a chance."

"It's alright. But I know Maddie really wants you to be there for her and the baby. She hates fighting with you," Jack said and her dad nodded.

"I know. And me fighting with her is about to change. I don't want to lose my oldest daughter by acting the way I have the past several months." Jack was glad he agreed but still surprised Maddie's dad was holding a civil conversation with him.

They talked for a few more minutes as they got the ice cream and made their way up the elevator to Maddie's floor.

"Look who I found," Jack said, walking in Maddie's room, with her father close behind.

"Hi dad," Maddie said, surprised to see him. Her mother didn't mention that he was there.

"Hi sweetie. Where's my little granddaughter?"

"Right over there. She's sleeping." Her dad went over to see the baby. "Her name is Isabelle."

"She's beautiful."

"Thank you," Maddie said, though trying to make as little conversation with her father as possible.

"Maddie, I'm sorry for acting the way I did. I should have treated you like my daughter that I love, and I didn't."

"It's okay dad."

"No, it's not. I'm really sorry, and I truly want nothing more than you and Jack to be happy together." Maddie looked at Jack, who nodded.

"Thanks dad. That means a lot," said Maddie.

"What's her middle name Maddie?" Rachel asked.

"Rose," Maddie said, looking at her grandmother, who smiled at hearing this. Naming her after you was actually Jack's idea," Maddie said to her grandmother, who looked like she couldn't have been happier. Maddie and Jack talked with her family for a while, and an hour later, they left to have lunch. Maddie and Jack started playing Candyland when there was a knock at the door.

"Come on in," Jack said. The door opened and in filed his family. Mr. and Mrs. O'Callahan and Jack's sister, Erin all came in the room.

"Hi guys," Mrs. O'Callahan said.

"Hi," Maddie and Jack said, surprised to see them.

"I can't believe you flew out today," Maddie said.

"We couldn't wait to see you," said Mary. "And the baby of course."

"Is it a boy or a girl?" asked Erin.

"A girl. Isabelle," said Jack.

"Aww, that's so cute."

"She's right over there. You can go see her." The three walked over to see the baby. After chatting with Jack and Maddie for a few minutes, Maddie's family came back in. The two families had never met, and Jack and Maddie started the introductions. Everyone got along quite well and they were all talking for the next couple hours until the baby woke up. There was then a line to hold her, and Izzy was passed around for the next hour. She started getting fussy, and Jack took her to calm her down. Almost instantly, she was quiet.

"You're pretty good with her. I'm impressed," said Mr. O'Callahan.

"She likes her daddy," said Maddie.

The two families ended up bringing Christmas dinner and baby gifts to Maddie's room. After dinner, Jack's family gave them a stroller and carrier for the baby, and Maddie's family gave them a playpen and baby swing. Both families each got other little baby things, and once the gifts were given, the two families went to their hotels and promised to visit the next day before they left.

Maddie fed Izzy and they both fell asleep almost right away. Jack left after they fell asleep, kissing them both before he left. He couldn't have been happier with the way Christmas turned out.

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December 26, 1979

The next morning, Maddie woke up and saw Jack sitting next to her bed, watching her.

"Did you even leave last night?" she asked.

"Yeah. But I came back bright and early."

"I can see that. It's only ten after eight," Maddie said, smiling.

"I need to make the most of my time before practice."

"You have practice today?" Maddie asked, surprised. She had thought Herb would have given them another day off.

"Well, it's an optional skate today. I think I'm going to go though. At least for a little bit."

"Good idea. You could use time away from here."

"When are you and Izzy coming home?"

"Hopefully really soon. I miss the guys."

"Not me?"

"How can I miss you when you're up here all the time?"

"Well, I miss you. I miss waking up next to you," Jack said, lowering his face closer to Maddie's.

"Lucky for me, I still get to wake up next to you everyday. Every morning you're here when I wake up."

"I love watching you sleep," Jack said, kissing her softly.

"I'm so sore," Maddie said once they broke their kiss. "These hospital pillows aren't too comfortable." Jack motioned for Maddie to lean forward. He sat sideways on the bed beside her and started massaging her neck. "That feels good," Maddie said.

Jack continued to massage her shoulders for a few minutes and then began kissing her neck. Maddie was completely relaxed now, and they both were enjoying a mini make-out session when the baby started crying.

"I think she wants our attention," Maddie said, as Jack pulled away from her.

"I'll get her," Jack said. "But she better not pull this every time we try to have alone time."

"Jack, for one, we don't get alone time anymore. At least not when the baby's around. For two, she's just a baby and doesn't know any better."

"I think she does know better," Jack said, then began talking to Isabelle in a baby voice. "You do know better don't you. I think you do. You just want all of the attention. Well, you know what? If you keep this up, you won't have any brothers or sisters someday." Jack smiled at the baby and then looked at Maddie, and regretted what he had just said. Seeing Maddie face, he remembered that they might not be able to have any more kids. "I'm sorry. I forgot-"

"Don't worry about it," Maddie said smiling, though Jack thought it was fake. "Besides, the doctor didn't say it was impossible."

"He said it would be a miracle," Jack said, still feeling bad.

"Anything can happen," Maddie said optimistically. "But if not, then it isn't meant to be. I'm going to look on the bright side."

"What's that?" Jack asked, rocking Izzy.

"I won't need my tubes tied in five years when we have five kids."

"You're a funny one, Maddie," Jack said sarcastically, though smiling at what she was implying about him. "Yeah, you're mommy's funny," Jack told Isabelle, smiling at her.

Later that morning, Jack and Maddie's parents both came back to visit before they left. Everyone was sad to go, because they wanted to spend more time with Jack, Maddie, and Izzy, but Maddie reminded them that the Olympics were only a month and a half away, and they would all see each other again them. Jack also promised to send pictures of the baby.

After lunch, Maddie got more visitors. Maddie was holding Izzy while Jack was flipping through the channels on Maddie's TV when Buzz, Mac, Laura, and Gail stopped by.

"Hey Maddie. How are you doing?" asked Laura.

"Hey," Maddie said, happy to see everyone. "I'm good."

"The baby is adorable," said Gail. Both Laura and Gail walked over to Maddie, admiring the baby.

"Awww," they both said as the baby yawned.

"This is Isabelle," said Maddie.

"She is the cutest little thing, said Gail.

"Yeah, isn't she cute?" Laura asked Mac and Buzz.

"Yeah," both guys agreed, even though they weren't nearly as impressed as their girlfriends.

"How's parenthood?" asked Mac.

"Great," both Jack and Maddie answered.

"What's the best part?" asked Buzz.

"Diapers," Maddie said, though she was joking. Buzz looked horrified. "I was kidding," she told him.

"I know," he said, unconvincingly. "What's your favorite part, OC?"

"I don't have a favorite part yet. I do love her though. She's perfect."

"You say that now," said Mac. "You just wait."

"Yeah, wait til she starts crying in the middle of the night," added Buzz.

"It beats having to go buy ice cream," Jack shot back, laughing.

"What if she wants ice cream?" asked Buzz, seriously. Everyone looked at him, thinking he must be joking. They finally realized that he wasn't.

"I hope you don't plan on having kids," Jack told Gail. "He'll end up really messing them up."

"She can't eat ice cream yet," Maddie told Buzz.

"She doesn't even eat baby food yet," said Jack.

Gail and Laura both held Izzy for a few minutes, then Buzz asked to hold her.

"Umm, okay," Maddie answered hesitantly.

"He'll be fine," Jack assured her.

"Support her head," Maddie warned, as Buzz took the baby. He started talking to Izzy as he was holding her.

"Why are you talking to her?" Mac asked. "She can't understand you."

"Babies still need to be talked to. How do you think they learn how to talk? They also understand a lot more than you think," Laura said.

"I can tell someone never had younger siblings," commented Gail, about Mac.

"I do, but I was practically a baby myself when they were born. They're only three years younger than me."

"They're twins?" Gail asked, assuming that's why Mac was using 'they.'

"Yeah. Twins actually run in my family."

"Mine too," said Laura.

"Wonderful," Mac muttered, half under his breath. Everyone heard him and laughed. "Wait. You don't have any twin siblings," he added.

"I know, but there are five sets of twins in my family. My mom has a twin sister, and they're mom has twin brothers, and my cousin has twin daughters. On my dad's side, my dad has twin sisters, and my grandpa has a twin sister."

"Seriously?" Mac asked surprised. "I never knew that all those family members were twins."

"They are."

"You should have told me that earlier. It should have been your disclaimer when we met. 'Caution - I make babies in twos'." Everyone laughed at Mac.

"What's wrong with twins?" asked Laura. Mac looked at her wide eyed.

"There's two of them! At once."

"Aw baby, it's okay. That's why God gave you two hands," Laura said, wrapping her arm around him. Mac rolled his eyes in response.

A little while later, the four friends left and Jack hung out with Maddie for a while. The baby had gone back to the nursery to sleep, and they were watching a movie, however Jack was bored.

"I'm bored," he announced.

"Go home then. I'm watching this movie."

"Can't I go get the baby?"

"She's sleeping."

"But I'm bored," Jack half whined.

"You can get her later," Maddie promised.

"I'm holding you to that," Jack said, and shut up so Maddie could watch the movie.

The next day, Maddie was quite ready to leave the hospital. She was getting sick of sitting in a bed and not doing anything. Luckily the next day she was leaving. Even though she had visitors almost constantly, Maddie missed being at practices with the guys.

Just before dinner time, Jack came up to see her and Izzy. Maddie was surprised when Rizzo, Bah, and Jimmy came in with him. She was even more surprised to see Phil and Rammer.

"Hey guys," she greeted everyone, Jack walking over to give her a kiss. "I didn't expect to see all of you today."

"We missed you at practice today," Rizzo said.

"And we really needed you there too," added Bah.

"Why? What happened?"

"Jannie had a little accident."

"Is he okay?" Maddie asked.

"He hurt his ankle, but Doc said it was just twisted and he should be fine by tomorrow."

"How did it happen?" Maddie wondered, thinking it happened during practice. Bah began laughing so Rizzo explained what happened.

"He tripped over a chair in his room and twisted it sideways when he fell." Maddie started laughing.

"He got hurt falling over a chair? At least he's okay."

"Yeah. It was more funny than anything," Jimmy said. Jimmy, Rizzo, and Bah each took a turn holding Izzy, and Jack took her after. Phil and Rammer didn't want to hold her. Maddie wondered why they were even there. Not that she didn't appreciate them coming, because she did, but they weren't too involved in any of the conversations going on either. Phil finally started talking to Maddie.

"How come there hasn't been any nurses in to check on you today?"

"Last time we were here, a nurse came in a few times," Rammer added.

"I don't know, they come in every so often," Maddie said, wondering why they cared.

"Are the same ones here today?" Phil asked.

"A few are the same."

"Well the one last time seemed to be a really good nurse," said Rammer.

"That must have been Jessica. I like her. She's here today."

"Oh. I'll be right back. I'm gonna go get a drink," Phil said, leaving the room. Rammer followed close behind.

"Me too."

"Why are they even here?" Maddie asked after they left.

"I don't know. When we said we were coming up here, they asked to tag along," said Rizzo. A few minutes later, Phil and Rammer came back.

"Guess what I'm doing tomorrow," said Phil walking in the room with a smile. He didn't wait for anyone to guess though. "I've got a date."

"With who?" asked Jack.

"Jessica," Rammer answered, mumbling. He looked a little jealous.

"The nurse?" asked Maddie in disbelief.

"Yeah. And it's gonna be a good time."

"Oh my God. I can't believe you asked my nurse out. At least I'm leaving tomorrow and she won't think I have awful friends."

"No, Jessica's different. I really like her," said Phil. Everyone laughed.

"Maybe at least until you sleep with her," said Jack.

"Wasn't Nicole different too? Or how about Stephanie?" asked Jimmy. Rammer continued this.

"And Kristin. And Michelle. They were 'different' too right?" Phil just laughed.

"Yeah," he agreed.

"You're unbelievable," said Maddie, shaking her head.

A little while later, the guys said their good-byes and left, leaving Maddie alone with Jack and Isabelle. Again, Jack waited for Maddie to fall asleep, then he kissed them good night and left too.

The next evening, Maddie was finally able to leave the hospital. After practice that day, Herb, Craig, Doc, and Velta paid her a surprise visit, and shortly after dinner, Jack came to pick them up. He strapped Isabelle into the carrier and handed Maddie a camera to take pictures along the way. The doctors and nurses on the floor all wished them luck with the baby and Maddie was wheeled out to the car.

When Jack and Maddie got back to the dorms, Jack carried the baby upstairs and explained where they were going along the way. Maddie just laughed because the sight of Jack holding a conversation with a newborn was very amusing.

"And here we are. Your wonderful home for the next few months. Maddie, take a picture," Jack told her. Jack them handed Maddie the carrier and took the camera from her. He opened the door and let Maddie in first. Maddie got inside and saw a small makeshift nursery for Isabelle. She turned around to thank Jack, and he took a picture of her expression.

"Thank you!" she said, setting the carrier on the ground and then giving Jack a hug. "I love it. It's beautiful. When did you have time for this?"

"Today, after practice. That's why I was a little late."

"I love it," Maddie said again, tears coming to her eyes. "You're amazing."

"So I've heard," Jack said. They shared a kiss, and then were interrupted by the baby starting to cry a little.

"Hey, it's okay," Maddie said, walking over to the carrier. "Shhh," she said, picking up Isabelle and kissing her forehead. Izzy stopped crying almost immediately. "Let's see what your daddy made for you."

Maddie walked through the room and looked at everything that was set up. Izzy's crib and swing, and everything else made the corner crowded and the room look even smaller than it was, but it was perfect. Jack even put up pink wallpaper near the crib and made a sign that said, "Welcome home, Izzy!"

It was starting to get late, and Maddie was really tired, so after feeding Izzy, Jack put her down in her crib. He watched his beautiful little baby for a few minutes. She looked so peaceful sleeping and Jack just watched her little chest rise and fall with her breathing. He couldn't believe that he wasn't happy about having the baby first, because Izzy was perfect and he wouldn't trade her for anything.

Jack walked over to the bed and crawled in beside Maddie.

"Our little angel's asleep," he said, kissing Maddie's head.

"She's perfect, isn't she?"

"I couldn't have asked for a more perfect baby."

"Me either," Maddie said, rolling on her side so she was facing Jack. She draped her arm across his chest and snuggled close to him, getting comfortable. Jack softly stoked Maddie's shoulder as she started to fall asleep.

"Maddie?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah," she answered, with her eyes closed.

"Do you think we'll be good parents?"

"Yeah," Maddie said, almost sounding like she wasn't really paying attention to the question.

"Are you sure? I mean, what if we can't handle having a kid, and we're not good at it?"

"It'll be fine," Maddie said, again not really listening to him.

"Well, you'll be a great mom, but I don't think I'll be that good of a dad."

"Uh huh," Maddie mumbled. Jack didn't seem to notice that Maddie wasn't listening. It was more like he was just talking himself through his doubts.

"I know I'm not the type to admit it, but I'm actually a little nervous and scared. Until we brought her home, it didn't quite sink in that Izzy is ours forever. Not that I regret having her, I don't mean that at all. But, it's just so weird to think that we'll need to do everything right from now on. We can't mess up, because this is a person we're talking about." Jack continued to ramble on. "Ya know, Izzy did get me wrapped around her finger real fast though. The first time I saw that cute little face, I couldn't resist her. And the guys told me that I was a softie with you. That baby has me ten times worse. And every time I hear her cry, I just want her to not be sad and stop. I just want her to always be happy and what if we can't make her happy all the time. What if we can't fix something. You must be a little scared too, right?" Jack asked, looking down at Maddie, who was fast asleep.

Maddie sleeping provided Jack with the reassurance he needed, and he kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes, falling asleep almost immediately.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it. Please hit that little button and tell me what you thought!


	24. Chapter 24

Flowersc781: That's okay. Glad you're caught up though and I'm glad you like the story. Thanks for reviewing and enjoy the chapter!

Meadow567: Yeah, first time parents do tend to worry. Thanks for the review and I'm glad you liked it. Hope you like this chapter too! There's a lot of father daughter moments.

Nelliebly413672: Thanks for the review. Jack's going to be adorable again this chapter. Lots of daddy moments, lol. Hope you like it.

Emador: Glad you liked it! You'll find out what happened with the nurse this chapter, lol. Enjoy and thanks for the review!

A/N: Sorry this took so long to get up. School has been sooo busy! Enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 24

The morning after the new family of three got home from the hospital, Jack woke up with his new alarm clock, Isabelle. Maddie woke up too and started to get out of bed.

"I'll get her," Jack told her, getting up.

"I can do it. You can go back to sleep."

"I have to get up for practice soon anyway. I'll get her. Besides, you got her in the middle of the night. It's my turn."

"Thanks, baby," Maddie said, relieved she was able to sleep a little longer. Jack walked over to Izzy's crib and picked her up.

"Hey pumpkin. Are you hungry?" Izzy kept crying. "Okay, okay, let's get a bottle." Jack carried the baby to the kitchen and got a bottle out. He warmed it and as soon as he put the bottle near Izzy's mouth, she immediately began drinking it.

"You're hungry this morning. But I do have to say, we need to work on the alarm bit. I need to wake up at seven, not six." Izzy continued drinking as Jack talked to her. Once she was done, Jack burped her and then put her in the swing while he got ready. By the time he was dressed and ready for practice, the baby was sleeping in the swing. Jack turned the TV on and watched last night's sports highlights while he ate breakfast. Every couple minutes, his attention would drift from the TV as he watched Izzy sleep.

"She's sleeping again already?" Maddie said walking over to the couch. She sat next to Jack and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah, apparently she was still tired." Jack wrapped his arm around Maddie and kissed the top of her head. "Are you coming to practice today?"

"Yeah. I miss being there."

"I'm sure the guys will want to see Izzy again too."

Jack and Maddie talked for a while until Jack had to leave for practice. Maddie was going a little later. Shortly after Jack left Izzy woke up. Maddie waited for her to start crying, but she didn't. Izzy just sat in her swing, staring at Maddie with her big, blue eyes.

"Hi, Izzy. How are you this morning?" Maddie asked. "Want to go see daddy play hockey?" Maddie got up and began getting the baby ready to leave. She dressed her in a cute pink outfit, one warm enough so Izzy wouldn't be cold so close to the ice. Maddie then took a quick shower and got dressed too. She put a few bottles and diapers in a bag and put Izzy in her carrier.

When Maddie got to the rink, some of the guys were already out on the ice. The rest were on the bench, and noticed Maddie and Izzy right away.

"Hey Izzy," Buzz said, rubbing her cheek. The other guys surrounded the baby too, and totally focused on Izzy.

"It's good to know I'm still loved," Maddie joked.

"Oh yeah, hi Maddie," Bah said, and then turned his attention back to the baby. Maddie laughed. A few other guys said hi to her too, but they were all excited to see Izzy. After a minute of everyone crowding around Izzy, she started crying. The guys immediately backed away, thinking it was their fault.

"I didn't do it," Silky said.

"It's okay," Maddie said, picking up the baby to get her to stop crying. "Babies get overwhelmed when a lot of people are around. It takes time for them to get used to it." Craig's whistle then interrupted Maddie.

"Guys, get on the line. Time to start." They all obliged, leaving Maddie and the baby, and skating over to the line. Throughout the practice, the baby was incredibly quiet. Maddie only had to leave the bench once because Izzy was crying. After practice, Jack came over and gave both Maddie and the baby a kiss before he went to shower.

Some of the guys wanted massages after practice, so while Maddie was giving them massages, the remainder of the guys fought over watching the baby. They all wanted to hold her and soon she was being passed around to everyone. Izzy started getting fussy, and that was Maddie's cue to leave. The guys complained a little, but Maddie promised they could see her later.

"We're going to the bar later. Wanna come?" Buzz asked Maddie. She looked at him like he was crazy

"Is Jack going?"

"Yeah, we all are."

"Okay sure. I'll just leave Izzy home by herself. Hopefully she won't start a fire in the kitchen trying to warm her bottle," Maddie said sarcastically.

"You can't leave Izzy at home. She can come too," Buzz said, and Phil nodded in agreement behind him.

"I'm not bringing my baby to a bar."

"Just for dinner?"

"No."

"What if we go somewhere for dinner first. Will you come for dinner?"

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know. I'll think of something and let you know."

"Okay."

"Wait, what can she eat?" Phil asked.

"Baby food," Maddie responded in a 'duh' tone.

"Where do they sell it?"

"At grocery stores," Maddie said again in a tone.

"But we can't eat at a grocery store."

"Maddie will bring something to the restaurant for Izzy to eat," Buzz informed Phil.

"Oh okay."

Later that night, Maddie joined the guys for dinner, then went back home. Gail and Laura went too, and instead of going to the bar with the guys, they went with Maddie and Izzy.

"Our girlfriends ditched us for a baby," Mac told Buzz, joking with him.

"I know. That says something about us. When they would rather change diapers than hang out with us, things are really bad."

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"So how are you and Jack liking parenthood?" Gail asked when the three girls were back in Maddie's room.

"I love it. And Jack's been really great too. He loves Izzy so much. She's definitely her daddy's little girl. He's so good with her too. When I see Jack with the baby, compared to him on the ice, it's almost like he's two completely different people."

"That's so cute," Laura said, looking down at Izzy, who she was holding. "I can't wait to have kids someday. Seeing you and Jack with Izzy makes me want a baby so bad."

"Well, how are things going with you and Robbie?" Gail asked.

"Good, I guess. I mean, I this has been the longest we've been together without braking up, so I think it's a good sign. I'm sort of afraid to tell him how I really feel, because if we're not on the same level, things will go badly. They have before."

"Laura, you should really talk to him. Holding your feelings in doesn't do any good," Maddie said. "Especially if he feels the same way."

"Well, we say we love each other, and I know he means it . . . but, well . . . I don't know. We said it before and broke up, and even though this time is different, what if it's really not." Laura sighed in frustration. "I don't know. Let's talk about something else."

"Okay," Maddie started. "How about you? Any problems with Buzz?"

"Personally, I think the baby thing is getting to him too. Lately, he's been talking about starting a family a lot. Last night, we had a little fight over something really stupid. I don't even really remember what it was about anymore, but that's not the part that matters anyway. It ended with us making up and deciding to try to get pregnant," Gail said, smiling.

"Congratulations," Maddie said.

"Well, I'm not pregnant yet."

"But it's a start," said Laura. She looked over at Izzy, who was contently sitting in Gail's arms, staring up at the girls. "You're lucky you don't have any guy problems to worry about yet."

"And she won't for a long time," said Maddie. "This afternoon, I heard Jack having a little heart to heart with her. He told her that she wasn't allowed to date until she's at least 35, because, and I quote, 'All guys are jack asses and only think about one thing.' Jack even included himself as being a typical guy. But of course, Jack changed. And Izzy shouldn't think that all guys will change like he did, because most don't."

"He said all that to Izzy?" asked Laura.

"Yep. Daddy protecting his little girl. He didn't know I heard the whole conversation." Maddie then corrected herself. "One-sided conversation, that is."

"That is adorable though," said Gail, and Laura nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, maybe it's cute. But it's also very amusing to watch, right Izzy?" Maddie said.

The girls went on talking, and passing around the baby. Maddie was telling them how she wasn't stressed out at all with the baby and being a mom like the nurses said she would be. Gail and Laura assured her that it was coming.

"How about next week, we have a girls night," Laura suggested. "By then, I can guarantee you'll want some time without the baby. Just a couple hours. We'll watch a movie and eat ice cream and popcorn. It'll be fun."

"I can't just leave Izzy."

"That's what daddy's are for," Gail reminded her. "Jack can handle her alone for two hours."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"How about next Saturday? It'll be lots of fun," said Gail.

"Sounds great," said Laura. Maddie agreed too, but didn't really think she'd get too stressed out having Izzy around. She was convinced what the nurses were talking about wouldn't happen to her.

The next morning, Maddie woke up at seven, and was surprised Izzy hadn't woke her up yet. She rolled over to find the other side of the bed empty. Maddie got up and walked to the living room and saw Jack watching TV. Izzy was awake in his arms and Jack was talking quietly to her. Maddie stood there and listened for several minutes before Jack knew she was standing there. He was watching highlights from the Bruins game the night before.

"See Izzy. Brad Park shouldn't have let him have that much room to skate. It made it too easy for Don Luce to deke him out and go the other way. That's why they scored. Well, that and the fact that Belanger can't stop the puck," Jack explained. "Why they even put him in is beyond me. And here's another example of Boston making stupid mistakes," Jack started, seeing another play by play. "You have some of the best forwards in the league, and Boston decides to do something fancy, and try out their new defensive play." He looked down at Izzy. "You can't do that when you're playing against decent teams. Save it for the Rockies or the Jets."

Jack watched for another minute, and then began explaining more hockey to Isabelle.

"Boston should have won that game. If they put Cheevers in goal, they probably would have. Buffalo has some great forwards, but if you ask me, they don't have the edge anymore. After trading Robert to the Rockies, they got some sucky defender and ended the French Connection line. That was the best line in hockey, practically unstoppable, and they broke them up. Someday, you're going to play hockey," Jack said. "Now, don't give me that look. Your mom might want you to take dance lessons and wear little tutus like a princess, but you're also going to play hockey. I think you'll be good too. But we can't tell mommy. Not yet anyway."

"Well, all right. But there's still a few things we have to work out," Maddie said, deciding to join Jack and Izzy.

"Hey I didn't know you were up."

"Yeah, I was just listening to you pass on your almighty hockey knowledge to our daughter."

"Well, I think she enjoys hockey. She seems to like watching it." Maddie laughed as she sat down next to Jack.

"I bet she does," was all Maddie said.

"Face it, Maddie. Our daughter is going to play hockey and you know it."

"Maybe."

"Besides, if she gets a few teeth knocked out, guys won't be after her as much. If she has all of her teeth, she'll be too pretty." Maddie laughed. "You said you hope she looks like me, and if you get your wish, we'll need to do something to keep guys away from her."

"Cocky much?" Maddie joked.

"Yeah, and that's one thing you love about me."

"Yeah, but I do think you're sometimes a little too cocky for your own good."

"You may be right. But the cocky, hot-shot, hockey player that I am is what makes me so irresistible," Jack said, half whispering, with a cocky grin.

"Yes it is," Maddie said, leaning in to kiss him. Jack was still holding the baby, but wrapped his free arm around Maddie's waist. He began innocently playing with the bottom of her shirt as Maddie positioned herself to be facing him and put her hand on his chest. They began kissing more passionately, but no sooner did they start, they were interrupted.

Jack and Maddie attempted to sort of ignore Izzy at first, knowing she wanted nothing more than more attention. Her cries became louder and they broke apart, both looking at Izzy.

"Oh stop that," Jack said, serious, but with a light tone. Isabelle almost immediately stopped crying and looked at her parents. Jack and Maddie both started laughing.

"She really knows how to get her way," said Maddie.

"Will we ever be able to enjoy being together again?" Jack said, kidding.

"I happen to enjoy every minute I spend with you," Maddie said, faking hurt.

"You know what I mean."

"Things don't always need to be physical, Jack. But then again, you're a guy and all guys are jack asses," Maddie said with a confident smile, imitating what Jack told Izzy the day before.

"Did you hear that too?" Jack asked.

"Yep."

"Well, I love your presence too, baby. But a guy does need something other than a peck every now and then."

"Trust me. I do too. All I know is that five weeks from now, which puts us in February, February 5th to be exact, Izzy will be six weeks old, and I've already got a babysitter. For all this agony you've been through, I'll definitely make it worth your while."

"I can't wait," Jack said, leaning into kiss Maddie again. He pulled away quickly though, before Maddie could even kiss back.

"Hey," Maddie objected. "That was cheap."

"I had to stop before Izzy started again," Jack explained.

"That's okay. You have to get ready for practice anyway."

When Maddie went in the locker room after practice, she began the massages right away. Izzy was asleep in her carrier, but not for long. The guys started getting loud and she woke up.

"Sorry Maddie," Bah apologized.

"That's okay. I knew she would wake up if I brought her in here. But hopefully she'll just be extra tired tonight and sleep. It seems like she never wants to sleep if we're awake," Maddie said, referring to her and Jack.

"Izzy's smart. She doesn't want to miss anything," Jimmy said.

Maddie began giving Phil a massage next and they started talking. Phil said something which reminded Maddie of his date with the nurse.

"Hey Philly, how was your date with Jessica?"

"Don't go there," Phil said.

"Why not? What happened?" Maddie asked.

"Ask him what didn't happen," Silky joked.

"Let's just say we weren't really on the same page," Phil continued.

"You tried to get her into bed," Maddie concluded.

"Not exactly. More like suggested it. But she took it the wrong way and got all mad. And here, the beginning of the night went so well."

"What did you do?"

"I took her out to eat and to a movie. After the movie, I asked if she wanted to come over for a bit cause it was still early. We went to the dorms and Suter wasn't around. I think I pushed things a little too far then. I'd rather not go into detail, but the night ended with her slapping me and calling me a few choice words I shouldn't say in front of the baby." Amused at his story, Maddie laughed, but still felt sort of bad for Phil. He was a nice guy and all, but his track record with women wasn't great. Sometimes he just acted so stupid when it came to girls and their feelings. He just really didn't understand that girls had feelings too.

"Eventually you'll find a girl Phil," Maddie assured him.

"I have a question for you. If you weren't happily engaged to Jack, would you ever consider dating me." Jack gave him a somewhat warning look. "I mean that completely platonically. Well, not the dating part, but I don't want to date you, but if you were some other girl . . . basically what I mean is . . . " Phil was getting tongue tied and didn't really know what he was asking. Luckily, Maddie sort of got the idea.

"You mean, if I were Jessica for example, what would I or wouldn't I see in you as far as dating and having a relationship."

"Exactly."

"Well, the thing is . . . it'd be hard to date you. You don't date. I don't know what you would call it, or if there's a word that could describe it, but what you do is not dating."

"It's hooking up and having meaningless one night stands," added Pav.

"Right," Maddie said. "But I you were to change, and actually date girls, and maybe put off having sex with them for a while, maybe a girl would be more apt to consider it."

"How long do you think?" asked Phil. "To hold off on sex."

"It depends."

"At least six months," said Jack immediately. "That's how long it took me and Maddie."

"Thank you for telling everyone. Why don't we announce it on a billboard," said Maddie, sarcastically.

"Well, I'm just trying to help him out."

"Phil, wait until she's ready."

"What if I can't wait that long?"

"When you're really in love, it doesn't matter how long it is."

"That's the problem. He never waits long enough to fall in love," interjected Silky.

"Silky, if I were you, I'd stay out of this. You have enough problems with women last time I checked. And this is not a counseling session for Phil."

"If you ask me, many of you could take my advice," Maddie said, looking at Silk, who rolled his eyes. "Well, considering I've given all the advice I have for today, I think I'll be going," Maddie said, leaving the locker room with Izzy.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed it Again, sorry I couldn't get it up sooner. I'm not sure how many chapters are left, but I know it's starting to get close to the end. The Olympics will start in a few chapters. And after that, it's basically over. I might have a few chapters after the Olympics though. I have a few ideas, but I'll have to see what else I come up with. Next chapter will have more drama, but it probably won't be up until next weekend sometime.


	25. Chapter 25

miracle fan 9245: Glad you liked it. I love writing the Jack and Izzy moments. Thanks for the review.

Emador: I know that normally newborns wouldn't drink from a bottle, but some do, especially if the mother pumps or whatever. But I completely forgot about the baby food thing. I didn't even think about that when I wrote it, so thanks. And yeah, I love the thought of Jack explaining hockey to a newborn. He's such a hot dad, lol. Glad you liked it though, and thanks for the review!

Jenny: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like the story so much. And there will be more of Mac/Laura and Buzz/Gail moments, especially in the up coming chapters. Thanks again.

Meadow567: Uncle Bastard?! That's hilarious. Anyway, I know you can swear around a baby, but I'm trying to make the guys not know and not realize a lot of stuff about babies. It makes for funny scenes. Anyway, glad you enjoyed the chapter and thanks for the review!

Nelliebly413672: Glad you liked it, and I hope you like this one too. You'll see more about Mac and Laura and Buzz and Gail soon enough :) Thanks for the review.

Flowersc781: Well, as you'll see soon, cute Jack and Maddie moments...well, read and find out, lol. Thanks for the review though, and I'm glad you liked it. Oh yeah, and as for the guys taking her advice, you'll see that in the near future.

A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews! I love getting reviews and getting six last chapter made me so excited. Hope you enjoy this chapter. I figured you guys might be getting tired of all the cute stuff, so there's some drama and a little cliffy at the end. I'm still not really sure about the whole thing though, cause it changes some things later. (I'm trying my best to be very sketchy here, lol.) Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Chapter 25

January 5, 1980

A little over a week went by since Maddie and Izzy were home from the hospital. Everything was going great, but Maddie was starting to get really stressed out, because she was constantly with the baby. Everyone told her it was bound to happen, but until now she didn't believe them. Gail and Laura and invited her out that evening for dinner and a movie, and although Maddie wanted to go, at the same time, she almost felt a little guilty. After practice, Jack was trying to convince her that it was in her best interest to go with her friends.

"Maddie, it's just a few hours. You deserve a break," Jack said.

"Well, I don't know. Gail and Laura said I could bring Izzy, and we could just watch a movie at Gail's."

"Bringing Izzy would defeat the purpose of a break. Besides, she'll be fine with me. I promise."

"I know that. I'll just miss her, that's all."

"And she'll be here when you get back," Jack said, kissing Maddie's forehead.

"Okay, fine. I'll go and leave Izzy home," Maddie said, finally agreeing.

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A few hours later, Maddie had just left with Laura to meet Gail for dinner when Jack heard a knock on the door. He got up to answer it, carrying Izzy with him. It was Silky.

"Hey Jack. Wanna watch the game tonight?" Silky asked. The Bruins were playing Minnesota in Boston and the game was on ESPN.

"Sorry. I would love to but I can't. Maddie's out with the girls and I've got Izzy."

"Why don't we come over here then?" Silky suggested.

"Who's we?" wondered Jack.

"Me, Rizzo, Mac, Buzz, and Bah."

"All right. But we just can't get too crazy."

"No problem. We can be quiet."

"Watching hockey?" Jack asked in disbelief with his eyebrows raised.

"Izzy won't even know we're here."

"I was thinking more like Maddie can't know you're all here," Jack said, knowing she would flip if he had a party while watching the baby.

"No problem," said Silky, assuring him. "We'll be over at seven."

A few minutes to seven, guys started piling in Maddie's room to watch the game. Jack was very surprised to see more than the five guys that were supposed to come. Phil, Jimmy, and Mark showed up too.

"Hey. I didn't realize I'm hosting a big party."

"We decided to join you guys," Phil said, explaining their presence. "I brought beer."

"Great. Make sure it's gone before Maddie comes home."

"Jack, you're way too uptight," Silky said. "Why would Maddie care that you have a few people over. You're not in high school, and she's not your mother. She can't tell you not to have friends over."

"I know. But I'm supposed to be acting like the responsible adult here."

"Whatever. Let's watch the game," Silky said, jumping onto the couch and turning on the tv. The rest of the guys piled on the couch, chairs, and floor to watch the game. Jack was sitting on the couch with Izzy in his arms. She was wide awake, and looking up at him, and every few seconds, Jack would look down and smile at her. Maddie told him that she couldn't see him too well yet, but Jack refused to believe her. He was sure that Izzy knew exactly who he was.

The game started getting intense and as the guys got louder Izzy began twisting to head to find out where the noise was coming from. When she couldn't figure it out, she started getting frustrated and began crying.

"Don't cry. It's okay, Boston's still winning," Silky said, looking down at Izzy. This just made her cry louder. Jack got up and walked around, trying to calm her down. It worked, and Izzy started getting used to the noise by the end of the first period.

By the second period, Jack was into the game as much as his friends, and a few more guys joined them. Izzy just started to doze off to sleep when Boston scored. Jack jumped up and cheered along with the rest of the Boston guys while Mac threw a potato chip at the tv. Just after he jumped up, Jack remembered that he was holding Izzy and looked down to see a very awake and startled Izzy baby. She didn't cry though, and Jack was relieved.

"That's daddy's little girl," he said, kissing her. "Soon you'll be cheering with us."

Izzy stayed awake for the rest of the game in Jack's arm, reading her dad very well. If Jack got mad at the tv, Izzy would start crying. If Jack cheered for something, Izzy sat contently in his arms.

The game ended up being very close and Minnesota took a time out with five minutes left. The guys were all talking during the break, and didn't even hear the door open because they were so loud.

"What's going on here?" Maddie asked loudly, walking into her room. She saw guys everywhere and didn't even see Jack and the baby at first. Then she noticed him sitting on the couch, Izzy in one hand, and a beer in the other.

"What are you doing with my baby!?" Maddie asked, trying to sound serious. She actually thought the site was pretty funny.

"We're teaching Izzy all about hockey," Buzz said.

"My poor little girl," Maddie said, picking Izzy up. "I hope these boys haven't corrupted you too much yet." Izzy responded to being taken away from Jack by crying. She stopped as soon as Maddie handed her back to Jack. "Oh no. she's already a lost cause," she said, laughing.

"You're not mad?" Jack asked, surprised.

"Why would I be mad?" Maddie asked.

"Cause I'm not being a responsible parent."

"Jack, you're fine. I'd only be upset if she were in her crib crying. Or if her bottle was filled with beer by mistake."

"Could you two please take your lovey dovey, let's make another baby, touchy feely, sickening . . . whatever, outside?" Silky asked. "Some of us are trying to watch a hockey game."

"Let me join you," Maddie said, squeezing between Jack and Silky to watch the remaining minutes of the game.

January 12, 1980

Izzy was almost three weeks old now, and she was still very popular among the guys. Maddie spent a lot of time recently with the team, because the Olympics were only a month away, and the guys enjoyed Izzy being around too. The guys also started teasing Maddie about being in mom mode. She would constantly give them advice about almost everything, tell them to stretch really well before and after practice to avoid strains, tell them what to eat and what to stay away from, and many other things. For the last week though, there had been quite a bit of tension among the guys. They all knew the last cut was coming, and even the guys that were almost definitely safe were worried.

Maddie only spent a few minutes in the locker room that afternoon, because she wanted to catch Herb before he left. She stopped in to see him on the way back to her room. She hoped that he made his decision about the final cut.

"Hey Herb," she said, walking into the office.

"Hi Maddie. How's Isabelle?"

"Oh, she's good," Maddie said, looking down at the sleeping baby and smiled.

"Patty would love to watch her for you sometime. I think she misses having a baby around. And Kelly and Danny would love to be around a baby too."

"Okay, maybe I'll stop by this weekend. I could use an hour to shop by myself," Maddie said. Herb nodded.

"So what brings you here?"

"I was wondering when you're making the final cut."

"Tomorrow. After practice. Unless I change my mind again. But it needs to be done soon."

"Yeah," Maddie said, somewhat sadly, feeling bad for whoever it was going to be.

The next day, Maddie didn't wait around too long after practice, because she didn't want to be there when the unlucky guy got called into see Herb. Her plan on not finding out until Jack told her didn't work too well though, because shortly after Maddie got back to her room, she went downstairs to put laundry in the washer and saw Coxie with a few bags. He didn't have to say anything, Maddie already knew that he was cut from the look on his face.

"I'm sorry," was all Maddie could manage to get out.

"Good luck with everything Maddie. Good luck with being a mom too. It was really great getting to know you and you better keep in touch."

"I will," Maddie said, giving Coxie a hug. "I'll miss having you around."

"I miss you guys too." Maddie and Coxie said their last good byes and he disappeared down the hallway. Maddie was sad that Coxie got cut, but she was also relieved at the same time that everyone else was safe. _At least it seems that way_, she thought. _But with Herb, no one ever really knows._

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The day after the final cut, everyone seemed to be a little less stressed and less on edge. The night before, the guys had all gone out to celebrate officially making the team.

"I feel so sick today," Mark complained after practice.

"You better stay away from Izzy then," Bah warned. "Maddie will kill you if you get the baby sick."

"That's not why he's not feeling well," Maddie said, from the next room.

"Where is that coming from?" asked Bah. "Are there like, hidden cameras and a speaker in here or something?"

"No," said Maddie, walking into the room. "I was just in the other room."

"How did you even hear us though?"

"I'm not deaf," Maddie responded.

"It's all because she's a mom," said Phil. "Once girls turn into mothers, they instantly develop amazing hearing and grow eyes in the back of their heads." Maddie nodded in agreement.

"Well, if you're so smart Maddie, then why don't I feel good?" Mark asked.

"Well, for starters, you were out last night with the rest of the guys. I know you all had a bit too much to drink. I could tell when Jack woke up this morning. I also saw what you ate for lunch. Fried chicken fingers generally aren't the way to go before practicing."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Mark said.

A few minutes later, Maddie was just getting ready to leave when she heard Robbie, Phil, and Rizzo talking about getting dinner later on.

"Make sure you go somewhere Italian and eat pasta. No heavy, fried crap. You have a game tomorrow night and you won't skate well. I also want everyone to drink lots of water tonight. It was a rough practice today and you all need to stay hydrated."

A few of the guys, including Robbie, rolled their eyes.

"I saw that Robbie," Maddie said without looking back. She stopped again before leaving the locker room and looked over at Jimmy. "All of this goes for you too, Jim."

"Yes mom," he joked, but knew Maddie was serious.

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Laura was waiting outside the locker room for Robbie. He didn't know that she was coming. She just wanted to surprise him. She wanted to take him out that night to celebrate making the team. Laura would have taken him somewhere the night before, but he ended up celebrating with the guys instead. She really wanted Robbie to know that she was excited for him and everything, and that she would support him no matter what. Lately, Laura sensed a little tension coming from Robbie and she didn't know whether it was his nerves from the final cut or something else. She hoped that everything would go back to normal between them. Lost in her thoughts, it was a few minutes before Laura even noticed the girl standing nearby.

The girl appeared to be about Laura's age, and looked enough like her being thin and blonde, but the girl was a few inches taller. Laura watched her for a few minutes, wondering what she could be doing there.

"Are you waiting for someone?" Laura finally asked.

"Yeah," the girl answered.

"Who?" The girl gave Laura a somewhat dirty look, but answered anyway.

"Jack."

"O'Callahan?" Laura asked, confused. _Who the hell is that? _she thought. _I know it's not his sister, but what other blonde would be waiting for him?_

"Yeah."

"How do you know him?" Laura asked.

"How is it your business?" the girl shot back. _What a bitch! _Laura thought.

"I was just wondering because-"

"We dated Senior year of high school."

"Is he expecting you?"

"Not really. I wanted to surprise him." Before Laura was able to respond, Jack interrupted them.

"Hey, Lyssa." Jack said, only looking slightly surprised to see her. "Hey Laura," he added as an afterthought.

"How was practice?"

"Good. What are you doing here?"

"Just thought I'd stop by to see you."

"Oh. Have you met Laura?"

"Sort of."

"Laura, this is Alyssa. Lyssa, this is Laura."

"Hi," Alyssa said. "So do you have a minute?" she asked Jack.

"Yeah, sure." Jack turned to Laura. "See you later, Laura." Jack walked away with Alyssa, leaving a very intrigued Laura. She really wanted to know what was going on, because Jack seemed almost happy to see her. Laura had to find out why. She followed them at a distance so she could still hear their conversation, but was only able to pick up bits and pieces.

She heard Alyssa tell Jack that "last night was fun," and from what Laura gathered, they were going out for dinner that night to catch up. Laura really didn't like the sound of it, and she didn't like Alyssa at all. Trying not to be too judgmental, Laura tried to think of good reasons Jack could have for having dinner with an ex-girlfriend, but after trying to come up with something, she gave up.

Laura didn't want to do anything that would jeopardize her friendship with Maddie though, or Jack and Maddie's relationship for that matter, so she decided to keep quiet about the whole thing until the next day.

_If Jack doesn't tell Maddie about his dinner plans with 'Lyssa,' by tomorrow, then I'll intervene, _Laura thought. Even though Laura did her best to reason with herself, she thought something about the whole situation was a little strange and she couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right.

A/N: Please review! Since Thanksgiving is coming, the next chapter will be up soon. Maybe this weekend, but definitely by next Tuesday afternoon.


	26. Chapter 26

Emador: Glad you liked it and the cliffy. I liked your review. And you'll find out about the tension between Robbie and Laura soon. (Not this chapter though.) Thanks for the review!

Jenny: Glad you liked it. And Maddie will definitely kick Jack's ass if he's cheating. You'll find out what's going on this chapter. Thanks for the review.

Meadow567: You have a lot of good insights, but you'll just have to raed to find out! Thanks for the review.

Nelliebly413672: Well, I can assure you, this Alyssa is nothing like your friend, cause this Alyssa is a bitch, lol. Glad you liked it though, and the guys will corrupt Izzy even more when they babysit.

Flowersc781: I loved your review, lol. You'll find out this chapter why Jack's with her. Thanks for the review!

A/N: Hope you guys enjoy and thanks again for all the reviews. They all made me laugh a lot. The general consenus seems to be that Jack needs his ass kicked, lol.

Chapter 26:

January 13, 1980

Jack had just left to meet the guys at the bar and Maddie was waiting for Laura and Gail to come over. The baby had just fallen asleep and Maddie was relieved, knowing she would sleep at least four hours or so. Laura and Gail got to Maddie's room a little while later with pizza and snacks.

"So where's Jack tonight?" Laura asked casually.

"He's out with the guys."

"Oh, okay," Laura said, sending Gail a look that Maddie hadn't noticed. On the way up to Maddie's room, Laura told Gail about Alyssa, because she was trying to decide whether to tell Maddie, and what she would even say. Now both Laura and Gail knew Jack was lying to Maddie, because Laura knew he made plans with Alyssa.

The whole night, Laura and Gail tried to being up anything that would trigger the mention of Alyssa with Maddie, but they couldn't. Finally, Laura just asked her straight out.

"Do you know any Lyssa's?"

"Lyssa? Is that even a name?" Maddie asked, joking.

"Well, Lyssa as in short for Alyssa?" Laura asked.

"Nope. Why?" Laura had hoped Maddie wouldn't ask why, but without hesitation, she came up with a response.

"I met this girl the other day, and she said her name was Lyssa. Apparently she knows Silk from BU."

"Well, I don't know half the girls that Silky knows. He dated almost everyone on campus sometime or another."

"Okay, just wondering."

Jack got back before Laura and Gail left, and when he walked in the room, Maddie was the only one to greet him.

"Hey, baby. How was your night?"

"Great."

"Did you all listen to what I said about not partying too hard?" Maddie asked him.

"Well, some guys still had a bit too much to drink. But I'm not mentioning names. How are you two doing?" Jack asked Gail and Laura.

"Pretty good," they both responded, wondering how long Jack was going to keep up his act.

"Well, I'm going to bed. Night girls."

"I better get going too. Buzz is probably home by now," Gail said, getting up to leave as Laura joined her.

"See you soon," Maddie said as they walked out.

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The next night, Maddie was left alone again when Jack went out with the guys. She didn't mind so much, but at times she wished that Jack would stay with the baby once in a while. The past three nights he went out with the guys. Maddie never knew what they really did when the girls weren't there either, and Jack never seemed to say too much. Maddie didn't expect any company that night, so when Laura showed up, Maddie was really surprised.

"Hey. What are you doing here? Robbie said you were hanging out with the team tonight."

"I am. We're going to Bah's room in a little while to watch the game I just wanted to see if you and Jack were coming or not."

"I thought everyone was going out," Maddie said, wondering where Jack had gone.

"Nope. Just hanging out at Bah's."

"Is anyone going out?"

"No," Laura said, and then a look of realization dawned on her face. "Where's Jack?"

"I thought he said he was going out with the guys, but . . . " Maddie trailed off, having no idea where he was, but knew from the look on Laura's face that she just found out something she wasn't supposed to know.

"Why don't we go talk for a minute," Laura said, walking into Maddie's room. "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this . . . but Jack isn't with the team."

"Do you know where he is?"

"I think he's with another friend," Laura said, then going on to explain everything she knew to Maddie, who was now livid with Jack.

"Well am I going to have a long chat with him when he gets home," Maddie said seriously, but trying to keep it light. She wanted to stay calm in front of Laura.

"Sorry I had to tell you. I hoped Jack would tell you before I had to, but I guess he didn't get around to it."

"No, thanks for telling me. I appreciate it." After Laura left, Maddie sat with Izzy on the couch for a while and then put her to bed while she contemplated what to do.

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Just before two in the morning, Jack walked into the dorm, trying to be as quiet as possible so he wouldn't wake Maddie. Maddie however, was still awake and sitting on the couch, staring at the blank tv screen.

"Hey. I didn't expect you to still be awake. You could have went to bed." Maddie stood up and faced Jack. Jack couldn't really read her, but he thought it was a cross between mad and sad.

"Where were you tonight, Jack?" she asked seriously.

"With the guys," he answered, automatically.

"Don't give me any of that crap. Where were you?" Maddie asked, this time louder and on the verge of tears.

Jack walked over to her and out his hands lightly on her shoulders saying, "Shh, you'll wake up Izzy." Maddie jerked away from him.

"Don't touch me."

"Maddie."

"I want to know where the hell you were!"

"Okay, fine. I wasn't with the guys. I was with an old friend." Maddie gave him an evil stare, telling him that she wanted more.

"I know that's not everything. But I wanna hear you say it. So try again."

"An ex-girlfriend."

"It's two a.m," Maddie calmly reminded him.

"I know. Sorry, I didn't expect to be this late."

"Why were you with her?"

"I haven't seen her in a while and we were catching up." Maddie just shook her head in disbelief.

"Til two in the morning?!" Jack didn't answer, and Maddie walked away.

"Maddie, come on. Don't be mad."

"Don't be mad! Don't be mad? Jack, you were out with an ex til two in the frickin' morning!"

"We were just talking and-"

"Catching up, I know," Maddie said, cutting him off. "But my question is . . . catching up on what?"

"Do you think I'm cheating on you?!" Jack asked, shocked.

"I never said that. I refuse to believe that you would cheat after I gave birth to your child. But I am waiting to hear a really good reason why you were with her the past two nights."

"Two nights? Who told you that? I may have been with her tonight, but not last night too. I was with the guys last night. I swear to God!" Jack said in defense and Maddie could tell he was telling the truth.

"Fine. Whatever. But I still want you to leave."

"What?"

"Go sleep in your room for the night."

"Myroom?"

"Yeah, as in the room you share with Rizzo. I really don't want you here right now, because I don't want to talk about this anymore tonight."

"Are you serious? I'm not leaving."

"Yes you are," Maddie said, starting to push him towards the door. Jack pushed her hands away from him.

"What do you want from me, Maddie? I said I was sorry that I was with her. And I told you why I was. What else do you want?"

"Why is the main reason I'm mad at you?"

"Cause I was out with an ex til two in the morning."

"Wrong. Because you lied about it." Maddie paused for a minute to let her words sink in before continuing. "Now leave. You can talk to me tomorrow."

Jack saw no way of winning, so he did what Maddie said and left. Jack walked down to Rizzo's room and walked in without knocking or anything.

"Hey OC. Nice of you to knock," Rizzo said, sarcastically. Jack looked over at Rizzo and then noticed a girl sitting on his bed.

"Sorry, I'll leave," Jack said, apologizing and starting to walk out.

"No, it's okay. We're just talking," the girl said.

"He can leave, Kelly," Rizzo told her. "I don't know why he's here anyway," he said, giving Jack a look. Jack just half smiled, wanting to find out who Kelly was.

"Kelly said I could stay. That you're just talking," Jack said, sitting down on the other bed. Rizzo rolled his eyes.

"So Kelly . . . it's nice to meet you. I'm Jack."

"Hi."

"Did you and Rizzo just meet?"

"Last week, actually. Tonight we went out for dinner, then came back here because it was still early."

"So he asked you out?"

"No, actually I asked him out. Sort of. Last week at the bar, his friend told me that he thought I was cute but was too shy to ask me out. I thought Mike was so adorable that I decided to ask him out myself." Rizzo turned red and Jack decided to make things even worse for him.

"Aww, that is cute," he said, trying to be funny. "My shy, little Rizzo." Kelly laughed and Rizzo turned an even brighter shade of red.

"Well, all of this talk about how we got together is really interesting, but I'm sure hearing why you're here will be even more interesting," Rizzo said, trying to put the spotlight on Jack. Jack stopped laughing immediately and knew he had to explain things.

Once he finished explaining Rizzo spoke up almost immediately.

"Is ass your middle name?" he asked, then went on to continue telling Jack how stupid he was. Kelly even threw a few comments in herself, and she barely knew Jack. Jack actually considered himself lucky that Kelly was there though, because if not, Rizzo may have tried to kill him. Once Rizzo and Kelly had finished bashing him, Jack went to bed.

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That afternoon, Jack had yet to talk to Maddie and was on his way back from practice when Laura came up behind him.

"So, how's Lyssa doing?"

"So you're the one that told Maddie," Jack realized.

"Only because she's my friend and I'm concerned."

"Well, nothing's going on."

"I didn't say anything was. I simply told her that she might want to ask her fiancee who Melissa is."

"It's Alyssa."

"Oh, I forgot. You always call her Lyssa, so I couldn't remember her real name." Jack rolled his eyes. He knew Laura didn't really forget her name. "Which is another point I have to bring up. Lyssa? You're not dating anymore. Start calling her Alyssa."

"I've always called her Lyssa."

"You're engaged, Jack. You really shouldn't have a cute little name for your ex. Whether you've always called her that or not." Jack knew Laura had a point but he kind of changed the subject.

"Well, thanks to you, Maddie's pissed at me."

"Don't even try to pin this on me. I may have mentioned it, but only because you lied to her. And trust me, if you keep lying, I'll tell her everything else too."

"What else is there?"

"Like you don't know. I saw her this morning at the store. We had a little chat. Apparently, you're seeing her again this weekend. Possibly getting back together. And I'll also inform Maddie what you really think about her."

"What?" Jack asked, clearly confused.

"You didn't even tell Alyssa about Isabelle. And according to you, you'd love to hang out again, because you only have a whiny, clingy girlfriend."

"Wait a minute! Almost every other word out of my mouth was about Izzy. And I _never _said that Maddie was whiny and clingy," Jack said, outraged that Laura would even think that.

"You didn't?"

"No. That's what she told you?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Alyssa's never been one for telling the truth."

"I don't believe her," Laura said, really mad. "She's such a bitch!"

"And for the record, I never made plans to see her again. I invited her to come and meet Maddie and see the baby, but she acted really weird about it."

Laura wasn't really paying attention to anything Jack said after that, because she was so furious with Alyssa for lying about everything, and wished there was a way she could get her back.

Jack decided to go clear things up with Maddie right after talking to Laura. He knocked on her door and she answered it almost immediately.

"Hi. What do you want?" Maddie asked.

"I came to talk to you."

"All right."

"Can I come in?" Jack asked, because Maddie hadn't moved from the doorway.

"Sure," she said cooly, walking into the room.

"Hey Izzy," Jack said walking over to the swing where Izzy was sitting. Jack gave Izzy a kiss and rubbed her tiny hand. "I missed you, baby girl."

"Jack," Maddie said, trying to remind him why he had come over. Jack stood up and walked over to the couch to sit next to Maddie.

"Maddie, I'm sorry for lying to you about Alyssa. I shouldn't have. It was immature and stupid. I guess I was afraid that you would get mad and jealous, but wouldn't tell me how you really felt and I don't know . . . I just thought it would be easier not to tell you."

"Jack, if we're getting married, we need to trust each other and tell each other things. Especially things like that."

"I know. I'm sorry. I never meant to lie to you. But trust me, Alyssa is one of those girls that I know you wouldn't like very much."

"I'd give her a chance." Jack raised his eyebrows. "Okay, maybe I wouldn't have," Maddie admitted.

"You wouldn't have. She tall, blonde, thin . . . she's pretty, okay. I admit it. But she's not you, cause you're not just pretty, you're beautiful."

"Jack, we've still got three more weeks," Maddie said with a laugh. Jack smiled.

"Want me to tell you who Alyssa is? Aren't you curious?"

"Yeah."

"We dated Senior year of high school. Things got hot and heavy pretty fast, and we were really close for a while. Our relationship only lasted about ten months though. Neither one of us wanted to be tied down in college, so we broke up. Sort of."

"Sort of?"

"Well, it was more implied than anything. She was going to BC and-"

"BC as in Boston College?" Jack nodded and smiled. He knew Maddie hated BC. "I didn't like her before, but now I hate her," Maddie said.

"Anyway, even though we would have been close enough to keep the relationship going, we didn't really. Occasionally we'd still hook up at parties though, which went on until I started dating you. After that, I cut off all contact with her and thought I'd never see her again. But then I ran into her at the bar a few nights ago. She had a few drinks with us and it seemed to me like she changed."

"Changed into what? Just being a bitch who tries to get into bed with other people's fiances instead of a slut and a whore who tries to sleep with taken guys?"

"Maddie," Jack said with a sigh. "When she asked if I wanted to catch up, I thought she really wanted to know how I've been doing. I was way wrong on that one though."

"Thanks for telling me."

"Are we okay?" Jack asked.

"I guess I can forgive you. But you better make everything worth it in three weeks."

"You know I will," Jack said, leaning into kiss Maddie. After a few seconds, Jack and Maddie pulled apart, both thinking the same thing. Why wasn't Isabelle crying like usual when they kiss? They looked over at the swing and Izzy was fast asleep. Jack and Maddie smiled at each other, then went back to kissing.

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In the meantime, Laura went to the bar to meet a few of the guys. They all made promises to Maddie that they would stay sober because of the game the next night, but they still wanted to go out. When Laura walked in, she got a big surprise. At the table with the guys and sitting next to Robbie was none other than Alyssa.

She was laughing and put her arm on Robbie's shoulder, and Laura knew her little game. She was clearly flirting with him, and Laura knew Alyssa knew that she and Robbie were dating. Laura stormed over to the table.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Laura yelled at Alyssa. Alyssa pretended to look innocent. "Don't play dumb, you know Robbie is my boyfriend. But you just want what you can't have, right? Since Jack's engaged and you failed at getting him, you thought you'd steal my boyfriend. Well, you're wrong."

"I'm not trying to steal your boyfriend. Maybe if you weren't such a bitch, you wouldn't need to worry about getting dumped."

"That's it! I'm sick of you," said Laura, getting closer to Alyssa as she stood up. They were inches away from each other.

"I only speak the truth."

"And I only give people what they deserve," said Laura, slapping Alyssa across the face. The guys, who had been watching in silence, gasped in horror. "And sluts deserve to be slapped."

Alyssa, who looked like she was going to cry, stormed out of the bar. The guys began laughing. Laura sat down where Alyssa was previously sitting and looked around at the guys, who were still shocked and amused at the scene she caused.

"I never knew your girlfriend was that outspoken," Silky said to Robbie.

"Neither did I," said Robbie, still looking somewhat horrified.

"Don't worry. It's not like I'm mad at you. After all, you weren't reciprocating the flirting."

"Yeah," said Robbie. "Which is a very good thing."

"Yes it is," said Laura laughing. Laura never felt that good about slapping someone before, partly because she never slapped anyone before, but also because Alyssa really deserved it.

A/N: Does anyone still want to punch Jack in the face? Hope you all like it. The next chapter will be the MSG game! (I think) I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!


	27. Chapter 27

Jenny: Well, it's a good thing Jack redeemed himself, lol. Hope you like this chapter too and thanks for the review!

Meadow567: Wow, I didn't even realize that until you pointed it out. I completely forgot Maddie's middle name was Alyssa. It's not my favorite name either, lol. And just a little sidenote, Alyssa name was going to be Melissa, but since then Maddie and Melissa are both M names, I didn't want to do that. It was then Alyssa because I had the whole 'Lyssa' thing. Anyway, thanks for both reviews and as you'll see I actually am skipping ahead a little bit. Enjoy the chapter!

Nelliebly413672: Yes, Alyssa's definitely gone, lol. And maybe I could put Kelly in it a little more. I'm sure I can fit her in somewhere. And I'm also glad you're not holding Maddie's comment against her. ) Thanks for the massive review, lol, and I hope you like the chapter!

A/N: Hope everyone likes this chapter and thanks again for the reviews! I forgot to say this in my last chapter, but the idea that Alyssa went to Boston College and Maddie hating BC was thanks to nelliebly413672. She told me that BU and BC are big rivals. If you haven't read her story, Times Like These, you should. It's really good. Anyway, hope everyone enjoys the chapter. And for all of the Mac/Laura fans out there...hopefully you like their cute scenes.

Chapter 27

January 21, 1980

Jack woke up that morning to hear Izzy already awake and making noises in her crib. Maddie and him both got up and Maddie went over and sat on the couch as Jack walked over to Izzy's crib and leaned over the bar. "Hey Izzy," Jack said, smiling at Izzy, then giving her a kiss. "How are you this morning?"

Izzy kicked her legs a little in response, and was trying to move around. Jack picked her up out of the crib and brought her over to the couch where Maddie was sitting.

"Did I ever tell you that we made a beautiful baby?" Jack asked Maddie.

"Just once or twice," Maddie said, even though they both knew it was a lot more. Jack gave a quick kiss on the lips. "I can't believe she's already four weeks old."

"Me either. Time flies," Jack responded.

Jack laid Izzy on the couch, between him and Maddie and started playing with her. Maddie directed her attention to the news on TV. Jack was just being funny, talking to Izzy and making funny faces, when she smiled a little.

"Maddie, look! Izzy's smiling!" Jack said, smiling back at her.

"Honey, it's probably just gas," Maddie said, not paying much attention and repeating what she had told Jack for the past four weeks.

"No, Maddie, look!" Jack said, making another funny face, causing Izzy to smile again.

"Oh my God! She is smiling," Maddie said, now also smiling. Jack and Maddie kept encouraging Izzy to smile for the next several minutes while they did funny things, making fools out of themselves. Someone knocked at the door, interrupting their fun and Maddie went to answer it. It was Silky and he wanted to talk to Jack. Maddie let him in and Silky started laughing when he saw Jack.

"What are you doing?" he asked, and Jack looked up.

"Oh. Hey Silk. What's up?"

"You are very strange."

"I'm just playing with Izzy."

"You're still weird."

"What do you want, Silk?"

"I just wanted to see if I could borrow some milk. I ran out."

"Sure. It's in the fridge. Help yourself." Silky took the milk jug out of the refrigerator and started walking toward the door.

"You're taking the whole thing?" Maddie asked.

"Yeah. I need it for breakfast. I have cereal, but no milk."

"Will you bring the rest back?"

"If there's any left."

"Wait. Let me get some now then. I haven't eaten yet, and I need some."

"Why can't you just have toast or something that doesn't use milk?"

"Because I want cereal."

"Okay, hurry up. Take some milk," Silky said, handing Maddie the milk.

Maddie poured a glass and then handed it to Silky.

"What's this?" he asked, confused.

"You wanted milk. Here it is."

"You take the glass. I'll take the carton."

"No, you'll take the glass. It's my milk."

"Jack, Maddie won't let me have the milk," Silky said, wanting Jack to intervene. He hadn't been listening to their little dispute over the milk because he was still trying to make Isabelle smile.

"Maddie, can he please have the milk?"

"I'm giving him a glass. Isn't that enough for one bowl of cereal?"

"What if I have two or three bowls?"

"Then come get more. It's our milk and if I give it to you, I won't see the rest. I need it too."

"Maddie's right. Silk, take the glass. You can always come back for more. Or maybe just bring your cereal down if you don't want to keep coming back."

"So you're siding with her?" Silky asked in disbelief.

"Yeah."

"Fine," Silky said, taking the glass and leaving the room.

"He still likes to give you a hard time, doesn't he?" Jack asked Maddie.

"Yeah, but he's a lot better now," Maddie said. "And now that we still have milk, we might as well have breakfast." Izzy started crying then, and Maddie knew she was hungry too. "And we'll get you breakfast too," Maddie said, picking up Izzy and kissing her head.

February 5, 1980

Maddie woke up that morning as she usually did, to see Jack already awake and looking at her.

"Good morning," she said happily.

"Morning," Jack said as he kissed the top of her head.

"Do you know what today is?"

"Tuesday?" Jack questioned, although he knew exactly why Maddie was asking.

"Six weeks since Izzy was born!"

"I know. How am I ever going to make it through practice today?"

"I don't know. Like any other day?"

"But the anticipation and waiting is killing me," Jack groaned.

"Only like twelve hours or so left of waiting."

"Twelve hours until dinner," Jack reminded her.

"Who said we have to eat?"

"Me. I'll be hungry after a long day of practice."

"Well, that's your problem then," Maddie teased him. Jack and Maddie heard Izzy awake then, making little sounds. They waited a few minutes to get her, because she wasn't crying or anything. Once they were all up and ate breakfast, the three left for the hockey rink.

After practice, Maddie went back to her room to get ready for her and Jack's date. He was taking her to a nice restaurant and then they were coming back to be alone for a while. Laura and Robbie offered to watch Izzy for the night.

Maddie was so excited to have a night out with Jack. They hadn't been alone since Izzy was born, and they really needed it. Especially because Maddie knew Jack would be really stressed out in the coming weeks when the games started. Jack got back to the room a little later, just in time too, because Izzy decided she wanted attention and Maddie was still getting ready. Once Maddie was ready, she offered to take Izzy off Jack's hands and down to Robbie's room.

"Don't let her spit up on you," Jack warned, handing Maddie the baby. Last time Maddie had just changed into her favorite sweater and then picked up Izzy, who almost immediately spit up. Luckily the sweater wasn't ruined, but still. If Izzy spit up on Maddie's dress, her hour spent getting ready would have been totally wasted.

"Yeah, you better hope she doesn't, because 'm not changing. And I won't go out with spit up on me either. You'll be out of luck for dinner."

"We'd have to go straight to dessert," Jack said, in a suggestive tone that made Maddie blush a little.

"I'll be back," she said, picking up Izzy's diaper bag so she could take the baby down the hall.

Maddie knocked on the door and a minute later, Robbie answered.

"Hey Maddie. Come on in. Laura will be back in a minute. She just ran downstairs to get food. You look very nice by the way."

"Thank you," Maddie said, walking in and setting the diaper bag, fold up playpen, and carrier down. Maddie started pulling things out of the diaper bag, including a few changes of clothes, lots of diapers and baby wipes, two bottles and a bunch of containers of milk, and other little baby things.

"Is she staying here for a week?" Robbie asked joking, wondering how much stuff a baby actually needed for one night.

Maddie explained what everything was for, and how to warm the milk and didn't seem to forget anything. When she was ready to leave, Laura still wasn't there.

"You can go, I'll make sure Laura knows everything you just told me."

"I can stay a few minutes. Jack's still getting ready anyway."

"Maddie, trust me. Izzy will be fine. Go enjoy yourself tonight," Robbie said, sensing that Maddie was a little nervous about leaving the baby.

"Okay," Maddie said, getting up and heading towards the door. After kissing Izzy good-bye several times and reminding Robbie things repeatedly, Maddie left. Robbie walked over to Izzy's carrier and just looked at the baby for a few minutes, with Izzy staring back. Robbie had no idea what to do with her, so he just kept looking at her, hoping she wouldn't do anything until Laura got back. Luckily, just as Izzy got bored of sitting in her carrier, and began crying, Laura was back and picked her up. As Laura talked to the baby in a comforting tone, Izzy immediately stopped crying. Robbie smiled in amazement at the natural motherly instinct his girlfriend had.

"What?" Laura asked, noticing Robbie's smile.

"Nothing. It's just that you're really good with her," Robbie said, walking over to Laura and wrapped an arm around her waist as he kissed her. Laura smiled back and continued to talk to Izzy.

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Jack and Maddie had a really nice dinner, and they enjoyed being alone without an interruption from the baby or even worse, someone on the team.

"I can't believe the Olympics are a week away," Maddie said during dinner.

"I know. And speaking of which, we have a few things to talk about."

"Like what?" Maddie asked.

"What's happening when they're over," Jack said.

"Well, for starters, we're getting married."

"That's not exactly what I'm talking about," Jack started. Maddie now realized there was something else going on. "I got a call today. From Bob Pulford."

"The GM of the Blackhawks?"

"Yeah. He wants to talk to me about playing after the Olympics are over."

"Oh my God! That's amazing," Maddie said, then noticed that Jack didn't look nearly as happy. "What's wrong? Aren't you happy about this?"

"Well, I don't know. I mean, I probably won't be playing in Chicago right away. They'll probably have me play for their minor league affiliate. And we won't be living in Boston."

"We're not living in Boston right now."

"I know. But do you want to move to Chicago or even somewhere else?"

"Jack, this is an amazing opportunity. You'll be playing in the NHL. This is your dream. You have to do this."

"So you're okay with it?" Jack asked. "Because I'll have to travel and I won't be home all the time."

"Jack, I love you. Of course I'm okay with this."

"Okay," Jack said, now smiling. "As long as you're sure. I won't do this if you don't want me to."

"Jack, I'll support you with anything you want to do. You know that."

"I know, but with Izzy and having a family, I know a hockey career isn't easy. I mean, what if I play for a year and get traded and we have to move?"

"Then we'll move," Maddie responded automatically. Maddie reached across the table and took Jack's hand. "Jack, I'll move anywhere if it means being with you."

"Okay. Then I'll do it. I'll say yes," Jack said, very excited. Maddie was excited as well.

"Well, we better finish dinner fast. We have a lot to celebrate tonight," Maddie said.

The two continued eating and talking about almost everything. Jack mentally kicked himself when he brought up Isabelle though. He knew what conversation was going to begin now. Maddie would want to call and make sure Izzy was okay and go on and on about how she felt bad leaving her. Jack was right.

"Maybe we should call Laura and Mac. Just to make sure everything's okay."

"Maddie, I'm sure everything is fine."

"What if something happened though? What if Izzy is crying and they can't get her to stop? What if she-"

Jack cut her off. "Maddie, Izzy's fine. Laura is really good with her. I don't know about Mac, but I know Laura is fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Maybe we could just check in when we get back."

"Maddie, they're fine. Trust me." Maddie looked at Jack with uncertainty, but finally agreed.

By the time Jack and Maddie made it back to their room, Maddie forgot all about her worries about Isabelle. They began kissing as soon as the door was closed and minutes later, their clothes were left in a pile on the floor and their six week long wait was over.

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In the meantime, Laura and Mac were finding out a lot about each other while watching Isabelle. Mac found out how much Laura loved babies and wanted kids someday. Laura found out that Mac was a lot funnier than she thought. He was constantly being funny around the baby, but occasionally made her cry instead of laugh.

"Robbie, stop it," Laura said, laughing because he made Izzy cry again. "Izzy's getting annoyed." Laura picked Izzy up and started talking to her. "It's okay. I know, Uncle Robbie is weird. Don't cry." Izzy stopped crying as Laura continued talking to her.

A little while later, Laura changed Izzy into her pajamas and Robbie heated a bottle for her. Laura noticed Robbie trying to check the temperature, but he was having no luck.

"Rob, tip it and put a few drops on your wrist." Robbie listened to Laura, but even after feeling the milk, it didn't really mean anything to him. "Is it warm?" Laura asked. Robbie just shrugged.

"I guess. It's not hot."

"Well, just make sure it's not too cold."

"Why don't you check it?" Laura took the bottle and realized it was still too cold. She handed it back to Robbie and told him to warm it a bit more.

"You're so cute," Laura said, as she held Izzy. She got a little smile from the baby. "Yes you are," she continued, talking in a baby voice. Robbie walked over and gave Laura a kiss.

"She likes you," Robbie said.

"Yeah. And I like her," Laura said, still smiling at the baby.

"You're gonna make a great mom someday, Laur," said Robbie, who then seemed to get lost in thought. Laura looked over at Robbie and smiled now, wondering exactly what he was thinking.

After Laura and Robbie took turns feeding the baby, Laura burped her and put her in the fold up playpen Maddie brought. Robbie walked over to Laura and standing behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist. He began kissing the side of her neck then, and Laura turned around and stopped him.

"Robbie, we can't do this with the baby here."

"Why not? It's not like she knows what's going on," Robbie said with a smirk.

"Still. We have to at least wait until she's asleep."

"Okay, fine," Robbie said.

A few minutes later, Robbie and Laura were watching tv on the bed and Robbie looked over at the playpen and noticed that Izzy was fast asleep.

"She's asleep," Robbie said, smiling at Laura. Laura rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Guys. They only think about one thing." Robbie just laughed.

Laura ended up making Robbie wait until Izzy left to do anything. A little after

midnight, Jack and Maddie came to pick up Isabelle and Robbie and Laura were then left alone to finish what Robbie tried to start earlier.

February 8, 1980

That Friday night, the guys loaded up the bus to go to New York. They were playing the Soviets the following night in a much anticipated game at Madison Square Gardens. Since the team was not coming back to Minnesota again, the bus was full of everything the guys had brought with them.

Gail and Laura were both there, waiting to see the guys off.

"Good luck Buzz," Gail told her husband, kissing him. "I'll see you in a few days."

"Love you, Gail. See you Tuesday," Buzz said before getting on the bus. As Gail and Buzz said their goodbyes, Robbie and Laura did too.

"Bye Robbie," Laura said, giving him a big hug. Robbie hugged her back, then kissed her.

"I'll miss you, baby. See you in a few days."

"Okay. Good luck tomorrow night. Call me and let me know how it goes."

"I will. I love you, Laura."

"Love you too," Laura said back, giving Robbie another kiss.

"Oh, how cute. It's like a little love fest," Silky said sarcastically as he boarded the bus, seeing the two sets of couples say good-bye.

"You're just jealous," Robbie commented.

"Oh yeah, real jealous," Silky said, again in a sarcastic tone.

Laura and Gail waved good-bye as the bus pulled away. They were both flying to Lake Placid on Tuesday, just before the opening ceremonies.

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February 9, 1980

The guys were all very nervous for the game that night, although most tried to hide it. Maddie kept asking Jack if he was nervous, but he insisted he wasn't at all. The team spent most of the day at the rink, getting ready for the game. They had a morning skate at ten, and then they all went out to lunch. Instead of going to lunch with the guys, Maddie went to meet her parents and sister. The three of them were all coming to the games, but they were driving so they decided to take a few day trip to New York first. Maddie's dad got two tickets to that night's game, so him and Rachel were going to be there. Maddie's mom had offered to take Isabelle, so Maddie would have one less thing to worry about during the game.

Ever since the baby was born, Maddie had been a lot closer to her family. She talked to them at least three times a week, and she was starting to miss them, so she was very excited to see them that afternoon. After lunch with her parents, Maddie left Izzy with them and went back to the arena. When she walked in the locker room, the guys all had the same question.

"Where's Izzy?" Mac and Rammer asked.

"With my parents."

"Is she coming to the game?" Phil asked.

"No. My mom's watching her."

"Maddie! Why aren't you bringing her?" Bah asked.

"She has to be here," said Rammer.

"Sorry," Maddie said in response. She knew the guys would be disappointed that the baby wasn't coming. The last couple games the guys played, Izzy was at, and they won by a lot each time. Some of the guys started calling her their good luck charm.

"She better be coming to the Olympic games."

"She is," Maddie said in response.

At seven, the guys were all lined up for the national anthem. As it played, Maddie snuck glances in the guys direction. Most looked really nervous, and that became even more apparent after the first line was getting ready for the face off. Maddie thought Mark looked terrified, and in general, all the guys seemed pretty intimidated.

Right from the start, Maddie knew the guys were no match for the Soviets. They were getting hit hard and the Soviets knocked a lot of the guys down. Within the first few minutes, the Soviets had a breakaway and they were against Jack, two on one.

"Come on, Jack," Maddie said. He wasn't paying attention to the pass and the Soviets went back door and scored. Maddie sighed, and knew this would be a long game if things continued this way.

Right after the goal, one of the Soviet players bumped into Jack and Maddie thought, _You're messing with the wrong guy. _Then Jack started to go after him, and Maddie thought, _Oh no, here we go. Don't get in a fight this earlier in the game Jack. _Luckily, the refs broke it up before anyone got carried away.

After the first goal, the game progressively seemed to get worse. The guys were getting really frustrated, especially Jack. He started playing carelessly and was put in the box for roughing. Maddie didn't think things would get much worse when Jack got hit shortly after coming out of the box. At first, no one thought anything of it because everyone was getting hit, but when Jack didn't get back up, Maddie knew something was wrong.

"Oh my God, what's wrong with Jack? Why isn't he getting up?" Maddie wondered out loud. It seemed like minutes went by as Jack lay on the ice, even though it was actually only seconds. _Please get up, _Maddie prayed silently.

Jack finally did get up, slowly, but he signaled for a sub and limped off the ice.

"Are you okay?" Maddie asked, rushing to Jack's side as he got on the bench.

"Get Doc," Jack told her. He really didn't want Maddie to have to take care of him, cause she would only get more worried, and Jack could tell it was bad.

"Jack, I can help. I'm a trainer, remember?" Maddie said.

"Just get Doc," Jack said, sounding somewhat annoyed. Doc was there almost right away, and started to help Jack up to get him to the locker room, and Maddie went to follow.

"Stay here," Jack told her.

"I want to make sure you're okay."

"Just stay here, Maddie," Jack said. Before he realized he was being a little nasty and that Maddie was only trying to help, he was already on his way to the locker room.

For the rest of the game, Maddie worried about Jack, and couldn't focus on the game. She knew he was far from okay. Maddie was also upset because he seemed to be taking things out on her. She always knew he had a temper, but this was different. _He must really be in a lot of pain, _Maddie thought.

The Soviets were now up 10-3, and Maddie figured the game was pretty much over. There were only two minutes left. She counted down the seconds as soon as the buzzer sounded, Maddie got up and ran into the locker room. She stopped when she got to the door before going in. Jack was lying on the table with his knee propped up a bit, and his hands were behind his head. Maddie walked in quietly and over to the table, almost afraid to find out what was going on. Maddie's heart broke when she saw his face. Jack was crying, and didn't even notice Maddie was there right away, because his eyes were closed. Maddie never really saw Jack cry, and he never cried from pain, so Maddie knew it was bad. He looked up at her then, but didn't say anything.

"Hey," Maddie said softly. "How are you feeling?"

"My knee hurts like Hell." Maddie walked closer to him and rubbed his arm. She even started getting teary eyed from the pain that she saw in him.

"You'll be okay," Maddie said trying to reassure him.

"Then why are you crying?" Jack asked, in an attempt to lighten the situation a bit. Maddie didn't answer but wiped her face with her hand. "I'm sorry about before," Jack said after a minute of silence. "I know you were only trying to help."

"It's okay."

"No, it's not. I should have let you help Doc, and I shouldn't have treated you like that."

"It's okay. I understand."

"I just thought you'd get all worried about me. I was worried enough myself. I didn't need two people back here being worried. See, Doc's won't show that he's worried, even if he is. At least, not until he leaves the room."

"Well, you were right. I was worried. It was awful waiting for the game to end."

"My knee hurts so much," Jack said, wincing from the pain. "I won't be able to play, will I?"

"You'll be okay, Jack," Maddie said, lightly patted and rubbed his shoulder as Jack laid back down again. They were waiting for Herb to come in to see what they were going to do. A few minutes went by and Jack sat in silence, still crying somewhat. Herb walked in the room, and told Jack that Doc was going to take him to the hospital to get x-rays of his knee. Maddie was going to go along, and just prayed that everything would be okay.

A/N: You know what to do now. Hit that little button and review!


	28. Chapter 28

miracle fan 9245: Thanks, glad you liked it. And as for the Mac and Laura part, there will be more to come! Hope you enjoy this chapter too.

Jenny: Yeah, Jack and Maddie are pretty cute. They're gonna have more cute scenes coming up too. And there's going to be more of Mac and Laura. Thanks for the review and I hope you like this chapter!

Flowersc781: Lol, yeah Alyssa was a ho, and she's not making any more appearances in the story, so you don't need to worry about that one. There's going to be more cute scenes coming up with Izzy, Jack and Maddie, and Mac and Laura. Thanks so much for the great review! )

Emador: Well, sorry to hear your Thanksgiving wasn't all that great. Hopefully your upcoming holidays are better. :-) Thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter!

Meadow567: Thanks. Yeah, I just sort of came up with the idea of Izzy being good luck. A lot of sports teams and people in general are really superstitious about certain things, and you'll see that they're superstitious about Izzy being there ans stuff in the next chapter. Anyway, glad you liked it and thanks for the review. By the way, who is Isabella Yzerman?

Nelliebly413672: Thanks for the review. Yeah, Silky can be a jerk, lol. And he is lonely. Thinking...He needs a girlfriend...

A/N: Sorry this took so long to get up. This week was crazy with it being my last week of school. Luckily, I finally finished my tests and everything. I'm so relieved, lol. Please make my beginning of break even happier by reviewing!! Hope you all like it.

Chapter 28:

Soon after Jack, Maddie, and Doc arrived at the hospital, they were taken into a room. The doctors gave Jack some medicine for the pain and shortly thereafter his knee felt quite a bit better.

Jack, Maddie, and Doc talked a while and tried to keep away from the subject of Jack's knee. Maddie looked at his leg a little earlier and her guess was that he only pulled a ligament and it was not torn, but she didn't want to think too optimistically and get her hopes up.

A doctor came in to explain that Jack wouldn't be taken to x-ray for a while, and after assuring Doc and Maddie that he would be fine, they both left to get some sleep. The next day, they had a five hour drive to Lake Placid, and they were going to leave fairly early.

After picking up Izzy, Maddie went to her room and tried to sleep. All night long she kept waking up, thinking about Jack and what would happen if he really did tear his ligament. Once morning finally came, Maddie was ready to go back to the hospital and didn't think she could wait much longer.

Jack was sitting in the hospital bed when Doc, Maddie, and the baby got there. He still didn't look too good. Maddie could tell he was very upset about being injured. As soon as he saw her and Izzy though, his face lit up.

"Hey. My favorite girls are here! I missed you," he said to Izzy as Maddie handed him the baby.

"How are the x-rays?" Maddie asked.

"The doctor said he'd be in soon. My knee feels a lot better though."

"That's a good sign," Doc said, as he took a look at Jack's knee. It was swollen and bruised, but it was a little improvement from the night before.

Doc explained that the team was leaving for Lake Placid this morning. Once Jack was discharged, him, Doc, Maddie, and the baby were driving up to meet them.

Ten minutes later, the doctor came in the room with x-rays.

"Well, I have some good news. You only stretched your MCL, so you won't need surgery." Maddie breathed a sigh of relief. Jack wasn't too relieved yet though.

"How long will I be out?" Jack asked. The doctor knew he was referring to hockey.

"It's hard to say. One to two weeks, if you do everything I tell you." Jack sighed, a little frustrated. He knew this might mean missing the qualifying round.

"Jack, at least it's not a tear. Then you'd be out for months," Doc said, trying to brighten things up a little. The doctor showed Jack the x-rays, then began giving him orders.

"You'll need to wear this bandage to keep the injury compressed, and use crutches. Don't walk without the crutches, or you'll make it worse. You might be able to walk on your leg in a week, but your team doctor will make that decision. You also need to elevate your leg as much as possible and ice it for fifteen minutes, two to three times a day." Jack nodded, but wondered how much of the doctors orders were imperative to the healing process. Somehow, Jack thought not all of them were that important. _Yeah right, like I'm doing all of that, _he thought. _My knee feels better already. I doubt I even need the crutches._

"Will I tear it if I walk on it?" Jack then asked. Maddie knew exactly why Jack was asking this one. He wanted to play on it if it felt okay.

"No. By making it worse, I mean it will get more swollen and painful. It will also then be pulled for longer, and with another hit to your knee, it could tear."

After the doctor was done explaining things, he gave Jack the crutches to practice using and they were then free to go. Doc told Jack that he would also have to do some non weight bearing muscle exercises to strengthen the muscles around his knee. Jack planned on doing anything necessary to get better, but he didn't plan on it taking a week. He'd fight through the pain if it meant keeping a roster spot.

After the long drive to Lake Placid, Maddie went with Jack went to check in, while Doc parked the car and brought the baby in, but the rest of the team hadn't arrived yet. Jack and Maddie began talking while they waited for everyone else.

"Is your knee at least feeling better?" Maddie asked.

"Yeah. I think I'll be ready to go for the first game."

"Jack, you heard the doctor. At least a week."

"Yeah, right. You really think I'm waiting a week to play. Maddie, you know me better than that."

"I just don't want you do make it any worse."

"It won't get worse. I have to play."

"You will. In a week when it's all better."

"Maddie, a week's too long. If I can't play in the qualifying round, I don't think Herb will keep me," Jack said.

"Jack, Herb will keep you," Maddie said, for what seemed like the hundredth time that morning.

"If I can't play, he'll send me home and bring in someone else."

"But Jack, you can play. Just give it time."

"I can't play soon enough though. You were obviously listening quite well to the doctor. I've already gotten yelled at for not keeping my leg up the whole way here," Jack said, with a laugh to show Maddie he was only giving her a hard time.

"Well, excuse me for trying to make you better," said Maddie, laughing back.

"Seriously though, Maddie. If it's two weeks, which is worst case scenario obviously . . . the Olympics will be almost over. I'll be lucky to get in one game."

"Jack, you can't worry about this now. Herb will talk to you when he gets here."

"Maddie," Jack started, looking at her with a sad expression on his face. "I need to play."

"I know. And you will."

"But you don't know that."

"Herb won't cut you now."

"He could."

"Jack, he won't."

"You're too optimistic."

"You're too pessimistic," Maddie said back, as Doc walked up with Izzy. Jack and Maddie stopped their conversation and Jack started thinking about everything Maddie had said and just hoped she was right about Herb keeping him.

A half hour later, the bus with the rest of the team pulled up and Jack made his way over to see Herb. Jack assured Herb that he could fight through it, and then went over to talk to the guys.

As he started telling everyone about his knee and what happened, Doc was also explaining the details to Herb. Maddie was with the boys and looked over at Doc and Herb, to see them looking in Jack's direction.

A little while later, after the team had all checked in and got their badges, they went over to the rink where they would be playing. Maddie was walking around with Isabelle, checking out the arena.

Meanwhile, Jack was with Mac, Rizzo, and Bah, also checking things out.

"I can't believe we're actually here," Bah started.

"Yeah. Seven months ago, this was all a dream. It's hard to believe we're finally here," said Rizzo.

"I can't wait to get on the ice and make those Herbies pay off," said Mac, with a smile, looking at his teammates. When looked at Jack, he saw a sad look on his face. "Sorry, man. I wasn't thinking," Mac said, starting to apologize. After all, Jack wasn't going to be playing in a few days like the rest of them.

"It's okay. Don't worry about it. My knee barely hurts. I'm hoping to play through it."

"Do you really think Doc will let you?" asked Rizzo. Jack didn't answer because he already knew the answer.

A little while later, the guys had all began boarding the bus to go to their hotel rooms. Maddie was on her way to the bus too, and ran into Rizzo. She had been looking for Jack, and hoped Rizzo knew where he was.

"Hey Rizzo. Have you seen Jack?"

"I was just with him a few minutes ago. I think he went back to the rink."

"Okay, thanks. I want to go find him."

"Do you want me to take Izzy to the bus and watch her for a few minutes?"

"Sure, Maddie said, handing over the baby. Izzy had become so accustomed to being passed around that it didn't even phase her anymore. Rizzo started talking to her and walked over to the bus.

When Maddie got to the rink, she stopped before going on the ice, noticing Herb out there, talking to Jack. Their backs were to her, so she couldn't tell what was going on. Maddie was lost so in her thoughts, that she didn't even see Jack turn around at first. When she did, she saw a big smile on Jack's face as he threw his crutches in the air and yell, "Woohoo. OC's playin' baby. Haha."

Hearing this, Maddie ran out onto the ice, being careful not to fall and threw her arms around Jack, hugging him. She was so happy to hear that Herb was keeping him. Still in Jack's arms, she looked over at Herb, who was smiling. Maddie smiled back and mouthed, "thank you." Herb nodded in response and a minute later, Jack and Maddie headed to the bus.

"I'm so happy I get to play!" Jack said.

"I know. Me too."

"I won't be playing right away though. And Herb made me promise not to ask."

"Did he make you promise not to whine to me about it either?" Maddie asked, with a smile. Herb was behind them and had overheard their conversation.

"Oh yeah. Jack, I forgot. Another part of the deal is to not complain to Maddie or anyone else on the team," Herb joked. Maddie laughed, and Jack just smiled and rolled his eyes in response.

The guys were all happy to hear that Jack was staying, and Jack was extremely happy too. He was thrilled that Herb was giving him the chance and had faith in him to get better and be able to play. Jack just hoped he would be able to play sooner rather than later.

That night, the team went out for dinner to a pizza place in the village. They noticed a lot of people from different countries, all there for the games. A few of the guys were trying to make a pass at the waitress.

"Do you know who we are?" Bah asked.

"No, and I really don't care," she responded.

"But we're on the U.S. hockey team," Phil said, thinking it would make a difference.

"Okay. That's great," she responded. "Now can I take your order?"

"You don't care that we're in the Olympics?" asked Silky in disbelief. The waitress shook her head and began taking orders. Once she left, Maddie spoke up.

"Guys, not everyone likes hockey as much as you."

"Yeah, most girls don't like it," said Buzz.

"I do," said Maddie.

"Well, you're different from other girls."

"What about Gail? She likes hockey," Maddie pointed out.

"She doesn't count," said Buzz. Maddie raised her eyebrows.

"Wait until I tell her," Maddie said with a smirk.

"I didn't mean it like that," said Buzz.

A few minutes later, the waitress brought their drinks and said the food would be out soon. They ordered five large pizzas.

"Hey Bah," started Rammer, who was sitting next to him. "Nine o'clock." Bah looked at his watch.

"It's not nine o'clock. It's seven thirty," Bah answered confused.

"No. Not that nine o'clock. _Nine o'clock._ Over there," Rammer said, looking to his left.

"Ooohh. _That _nine o'clock," responded Bah, now knowing what was going on.

"Those girls are hot," said Phil.

"Hey, I wonder if they're from Norway?" said Pav.

"Maybe."

"Whatcha all looking at?" asked Mark, who just joined their conversation.

"Beautiful blonde girls. Right over there," answered Rammer.

"Hey guys," Mark said, getting the guys that were at the other end of the tables attention. "Check out the girls."

"Lookin' good," said Jimmy. "I think someone should go over there and talk to them." Everyone instantly looked at Phil.

"What?" he said.

"Go over there," said Silky.

"Why me?"

"Well, obviously it has to be you or Pav," said Jack.

"Yeah, it'll be funny," said Mac.

"If you think it'll be so funny, why don't you go over there," Phil said to Mac.

"I have a girlfriend."

"So? Just come with me. Like you said, it will be funny."

"Okay fine. But I need something to make this worth it."

"Ten bucks for each of you if one of you gets a date," Silky said.

"Okay, I'll go," agreed Mac.

"This will be good," Maddie said to Jack, and he nodded.

A few minutes later, Mac, Phil, and Pav came back, all with confused expressions.

"Well, whoever said they're from Norway was right," said Phil sitting down. "They're on Norway's figure skating team."

"They had strong accents," explained Pav. "I could barely understand them."

"I could understand them. You two were too busy staring at their chests to pay attention," said Mac.

"Then what did the one mean when she said, 'Vaer sa snill, something, something, something'?" Phil asked.

"Well, I couldn't understand that. It was in Norway."

"They were probably telling you to go away or something," Buzz suggested.

"Norwegian?" asked Rizzo, laughing, responding to Mac's earlier comment. "Don't you mean Norsk?"

"Yeah, whatever," Mac responded. "Either way, I think they were making fun of us."

"No way. They totally digged us," said Pav.

"Then why are they still looking over here and laughing?" Pav looked over and saw the girls looking at laughing at the guys.

"Whatever. What's the point anyway if they don't speak English and will only be here two weeks?" asked Pav.

"That's the point exactly," said Phil. "No long term commitment. Easy way out."

"No wonder you don't have a girlfriend," said Maddie. "Did any of you ever consider my advice?"

"Yeah . . . I considered it," said Phil. "And I decided not to take it," he said laughing, with the other guys and Maddie all joining in.

The guys talked and laughed the rest of the night, glad to have one last fun night out before the games began.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Next chapter should be up sometime Monday or Tuesday, now that I'm done with school and have a little more time. )

On a sad note though, the story is almost over. Only a few more chapters...I'm not exactly sure how many, but it will probably be finished before Christmas.

But, don't be too sad, cause I'm writing a sequalish thing. Nelliebly413672 gave me the idea to write a Mac and Laura centered story. It will start before the Olympics though, when they first met and everything. I'm going to have some stuff not included in this story up to the Olympics, and then I'm going to pick up where this story leaves off. Maddie, Jack, Izzy, and some of the other guys will be in the next story too. And that's where Maddie and Jack's wedding will be. That story won't be up until sometime after Christmas though.

Anyway, please review!!


	29. Chapter 29

Flowersc781: Aw, thanks. Glad you liked it. There's going to be more casual Olympic moments coming up too.

Emador: Thanks. I'm glad you like Phil. I like Phil in your story too though. I was never a big fan of him until I read your story. I'm glad you updated today - I was so excited to read it.

Jenny: Glad you liked it. Thanks for reviewing. I'm also glad you're excited for the sequalish thing, lol. Hopefully I'll start posting that soon after Christmas.

justlikewedo: Thanks! I'm glad you like the story. I love Jack, I'm such a big OC fan. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter.

Meadow567: I actually didn't know who Steve Yzerman was. I'm excited to read more of the Ralph and Avery story! Thanks for the review. Glad you like the idea for the sequal. Since everyone likes Laura and Mac I figured, why not?

Nelliebly413672: Yeah, I figured meeting Norwegian girls would fit really well because of the whole Norway thing from before. Thanks for the review and enjoy the chapter!

A/N: Thanks again for all the reviews! Hope you all enjoy this one too.

Chapter 29

February 12, 1980

The opening ceremonies were that afternoon, and the team was playing Sweden that night. Before the team skate that morning, Robbie and Buzz went to meet Laura and Gail, who had arrived that morning. Both girls were very happy to see the guys and the rest of the team for that matter. They were also excited for the games. Gail wasn't going to the first game, because she didn't get tickets for it, but Laura was. She was sitting with Robbie's parents, who also got to Lake Placid that morning. Since Gail wasn't going to the first game, she offered to watch Isabelle, and Maddie gladly took her up on the offer. It was so much easier if Maddie didn't have to do her job and take care of Izzy.

When the team got to the rink before the game, they were all mad when they found out Izzy wasn't going to be there.

"Come on guys," Maddie said to Buzz, Bah, Phil, and Mark, who were giving her a hard time. "Izzy has nothing to do with whether you win or not."

"Well, if we don't win, it's your fault," Buzz said, and then walked away to get ready.

"Okay, Buzz. Whatever you say. I still don't agree that you need Izzy here in order to do good. What about before she was born?"

"Well, she was still there, technically," Bah pointed out.

"But you lost some games while I was pregnant with her."

"Yeah, but there was obviously another reason we lost those games. There must be some other logical explanation." Maddie rolled her eyes.

"Sure. Whatever you say, Bah."

After the first period of the game, Maddie was almost convinced herself that the guys were right. Maybe it was more than a silly superstition. They played terribly. Herb was not happy either. Maddie looked at Jack on the bench every so often and could tell he wanted nothing more than to get in the game.

Mac got injured too, and Maddie just hoped he would be okay. Doc took him back into the locker room, and Maddie followed, wanting to help. The team really couldn't afford any more injuries. Maddie and Doc both examined Mac's leg and Doc thought he would be out for the rest of the night. Maddie was just happy it was nothing serious.

The buzzer sounded, ending the first period, and the guys began coming in the locker room. After a little 'talk,' the guys were more ready to play. It was actually more than a talk seeing as Herb threw a table across the room. Maddie didn't see that one coming, and neither did anyone else. _Herb wasn't even this pissed after Norway, _she thought. Herb also basically told Mac to play or leave, so Mac got ready to play too. Maddie just hoped Herb knew what he was doing. Mac playing wasn't the best option, but then again, she wasn't Herb Brooks, and Herb had a reason for everything.

The next two periods were a lot better, and Baker ended up tying the game at two, which is how they finished. After the game, none of the guys were in a mood to do anything but go back to their respective rooms and sleep. Maddie checked on Mac, who was doing okay, but was in a lot of pain. He left the locker room pretty quickly, because he knew his family and Laura were at the game and probably flipping out, thinking the worst. He figured Laura would be especially upset because earlier that day she found about what happened with Jack.

Jack and Maddie picked up Izzy from Gail's room, and then headed back to their room. Maddie changed Isabelle and started getting her ready for bed.

"What a rough game," Jack said, sighing and laying on the bed.

"I know, and you didn't even play."

"It was rough watching," he said, and Maddie nodded in agreement. "Wait," Jack said. "Since I didn't play, does that mean I don't get a massage?" Maddie smiled.

"No, I guess you can still have one."

"Good," Jack said, taking off his shirt and rolling over onto his stomach.

"Let me put Izzy down first." Maddie fed Izzy and fifteen minutes later, she was asleep in the crib. Maddie walked over to the bed and straddled Jack, sitting on him but being careful of his knee. She began massaging his shoulders, neck, and back.

"That feels good," he said with a soft moan. Maddie paused for minute to kiss the back of his neck. Jack rolled partway back over and looked at Maddie.

"Oh. So that's how you wanna play?" he said, raising his eyebrows.

"No, I was just giving you a kiss." Jack situated himself more comfortably on his back, Maddie still sitting on him. He reached up and pulled her down, then began kissing her. Before things got too carried away, Maddie sat back up again.

"Jack. We have to stop."

"Why?"

"Because we're getting too carried away."

"So? As I see it, there's no reason we have to be careful anymore. The biggest consequence is a baby, and we already have Izzy, so it's not like we have anything to worry about," Jack explained, trying to pull Maddie back down again. She sat up quickly though.

"Jack, we have to be careful of your knee. The doctor said not to do anything too physical."

"Come on Maddie," Jack whined. "I'll be careful."

"No."

"Please?"

"Nope," Maddie said, shaking her head.

"Ugh. You're no fun." Maddie gave him a quick kiss.

"I'll remember that when you get better," she threatened, then stood up and walked away.

"Hey, where you going?"

"To get ready for bed. I'm going to sleep."

"You're killing me, Maddie," Jack groaned.

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February 13, 1980

The team didn't have a game that day, but they did have practice. After practice, Maddie was in the locker room taking care of a few things while the guys were playing with Izzy. Izzy started crying and looked over to see Mac holding her."I guess she doesn't like you too much," Maddie said.

"Well, he looks like an idiot making all those funny faces. What do you expect?" Jack asked.

"She likes me," Mac said. "Even ask Laura. When we babysat her that night, I did a really good job. She liked me."

"Sure she did. That was probably only because Laura was there," Jack said, unconvinced.

"I believe you, Robbie," Maddie said.

"So, what's everyone doing for Valentine's Day?" Jack asked.

"I'm taking Gail out for dinner," Buzz said.

"I'm cooking for Laura," Robbie said.

"What? You. Cooking?" Bah said. "Good luck, man."

"Hey. I take offense to that."

"Well, just a suggestion, but maybe you should have a back up a plan, just incase."

"I don't need a back up plan, Bah," Mac said.

"Okay. Don't say I didn't warn you." Maddie then cut in.

"Personally, I wouldn't care how dinner tasted. If Jack made me dinner, I would be so thrilled, I wouldn't even care if it wasn't recognizable. It's the thought that counts."

"What is with you sticking up for him today?" Jack asked Maddie, joking.

"I don't know. OC, you better watch out," Rammer joked.

"Hey, I'm just telling the truth," Maddie said. "If Jack made me dinner-"

"I'm not making you dinner!" Jack said.

"Well, I'm even going to agree with Maddie on this one," Silky said. Everyone looked at him in surprise. He never stood up for Maddie.

"Wow," someone said.

"I know from experience."

"_You_ made a girl dinner?" Phil said in surprise.

"No. But I did do something else that was a little thoughtful. Actually, it was a misinterpretation on her part, but she did tell me that it was the thought that counted."

"Well, I'm still not making Maddie dinner. I made her breakfast on our anniversary, and a girl can only get that lucky once a year." The guys all laughed, including Maddie. A few minutes later, Jack brought up Valentine's Day again.

"What are all you single guys doing?"

"I'll watch her," Silky offered.

"What?"

"I'll watch Izzy. I know that's what you want."

"Wow, I'm impressed. Silky's being really nice today," Maddie said.

"Well, my original plan was to go find a girl around here so I could get laid, but it didn't work last time, so I figure I'll save myself the aggravation and just hang out with an adorable baby girl instead."

"Well, thanks Silky," Jack said.

"I'll help him," Rammer offered. "I have no hopes on getting a girl in a day either."

"Thanks guys. We really appreciate it," Maddie said.

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That night, Jack and Maddie met both of their families for dinner. The whole night, Erin and Rachel were playing with Izzy and took turns holding and carrying her around. Both Jack and Maddie's fathers talked about hockey and sports in general, and Jack joined in their conversations, while Maddie was talking to their mothers. Neither one would stop talking about the wedding and they started making plans for it. After a few minutes, they looked at Maddie, who had a somewhat shocked expression. They knew more than she did about what the wedding was going to be like.

"We promise we won't take over things and plan the whole thing for you, but we do want to help," Jack's mom explained, offering Maddie reassurance.

"That's fine. I could use the help," Maddie said.

"What colors were you thinking, Maddie," her mom asked.

"I'm not sure yet. We have a date, but that's about it. Jack and I have been so busy with the Olympics and everything. Once this is over, we're sitting down and planning it more."

"Are you guys still talking about the wedding?" Jack asked, looking over at the girls.

"Yes, honey," his mom said. "It's going to come up fast. We need to start planning now."

An hour later, the families said good-bye and went back to their respective rooms. Maddie's conversation earlier that night really made her start to think about the wedding. She and Jack were laying in bed and Maddie snuck a glance over at Jack, smiling at the thought of being his wife in a few months.

"What?" he asked, looking at her after noticing her smile.

"Nothing," she responded.

"Come on. What's that smile for?"

"A few months from now, you'll be my husband."

"I know," he said smiling back, and kissing her softly on the lips. Maddie snuggled closer to him and closed her eyes, ready to fall asleep. "Good night, baby. I love you," Jack whispered.

"I love you too," Maddie said, her voice muffled from her head being buried in his shoulder.

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February 14, 1980

The team had another break today, and after practice Jack and Maddie left Izzy with Silky, Rammer, and Phil so they could get ready and then go out for dinner. The three guys took Izzy back to Silky's room and were watching tv, when Izzy started getting fussy.

"Don't cry, Izzy," Rammer said. "Can you get her a bottle, Phil?"

"Sure," he said.

"I don't think she needs a bottle," Silky said.

"We haven't fed her yet," said Rammer.

"Yeah, but you haven't changed her either. I think that nasty smell is the baby." Phil began laughing. "What's so funny?"

"I thought it was one of you."

"You think we would let one out that bad smelling?"

"Well, who's changing her?" asked Rammer.

"Not me. I didn't sign on for dirty diapers," said Rammer.

"I didn't either," said Silky.

"But you offered to watch the little bugger in the first place," said Rammer.

"So? You gladly offered assistance." As the three guys continued arguing, Izzy began crying even louder. She was to the point of screaming with a beat red face before the guys realized it.

"Fine. I'll do it," said Phil, grabbing a diaper, and laying the baby on the floor. He opened her old diaper and look away instantly. "Oh my God. This is nasty! I can't do this. These are like, toxic fumes. I can't be breathing this in."

"Let me do it," said Rammer taking the diaper from Phil. He took one look at what was in Izzy's diaper and his eyes went wide. "All of that from a little thing. I don't believe it!" Silky took a look for himself, and also was disgusted. As the three guys looked at Izzy, she began laughing at them with her baby smile.

"She's laughing at us!" said Rammer.

"You think this is funny?" asked Silky. Izzy just continued smiling.

"Let's just get this over with," said Phil.

"She's all yours," said Silky.

After another ten minutes, Izzy's diaper was finally changed and they were all watching tv again. Not long after, Izzy got fussy.

"Maybe she's bored," said Phil. "She probably doesn't like watching this," He said, referring to what they were watching on tv. Phil didn't even know what it was.

"Let's find a baby show then," suggested Rammer, taking the remote from Silky and changing it to find PBS. Sesame Street was on.

"Are you kidding? We're not watching this. Babies don't even know the difference."

"I'm sure she does."

"Yeah right. Give me that," Silky said grabbing the remote. As Rammer and Silky fought over the remote, Izzy began crying louder.

"Guys," Phil said. They didn't hear him. "Guys!" he said louder. They looked at him. "Izzy really doesn't like arguing. Please stop. Maybe we should take her for a walk. It's not that cold out, and we have her stroller and a jacket for her."

"Okay, fine. Let's go," Silky said, getting up.

Silky was pushing Izzy in her stroller when her pacifier fell out of her mouth. Silky stopped and put it back in. At the same time, two girls walking the opposite way stopped to look at Isabelle.

"Aw, she's so adorable," the one said.

"Yeah, you have a beautiful daughter," said the other. "She's very lucky to have such a good looking daddy."

"Oh she's not my-" Silky started before getting cut off.

"Don't be embarrassed. It's nice to see a father take responsibility," the first girl said.

"Well, he was trying to say that-" Rammer started, but was shut up by Silky's elbow.

"That she not that lucky to have me as a dad," Silky finished. Rammer and Phil exchanged glances, both wondering what Silky was doing.

"Oh sure she is," the girl said, bending down to Izzy's level.

"Well, it's too bad her mother doesn't feel the same way." Again, Rammer and Phil exchanged glances.

"And are these daddy's helpers?" asked the other girl.

"Yeah, they help a little bit." The two girls both were looking at the baby, continuously commenting on how cute she was. "I don't think I got your names," Silky said.

"I'm Meg."

"And I'm Shannon."

"I'm Dave," Silky said. "And my friends are Phil and Mike," he said pointing to them.

"What's the baby's name?"

"Isabelle."

"That's so pretty," both girls said in unison.

"How old is she?" Meg asked.

"Six weeks," Silky said quickly, hoping he was right.

The three guys chatted with the girls a little more, and they ended up going to get ice cream. Silky and Meg were talking a lot, and Rammer was pretty interested in Shannon. Phil just sat on the end of the bench, talking to Izzy. He put his chocolate ice cream near her mouth so Izzy could taste it.

"Um, Dave. Phil's trying to feed Izzy ice cream," she said, warning him, knowing babies are not supposed to have solid foods until they're at least a few months old.

"Oh," Silky said, not too sure how to respond.

"Aren't you going to stop him?"

"Umm . . . "

"Don't you know babies aren't supposed to have solid food?"

"Oh yeah. Phil what are you doing? She can't have ice cream."

"Oh. Well I didn't know. But of course, you would, being her father and everything," Phil said, giving Silky a glare. Silky just glared back, silently telling him to keep his mouth shut. Phil went back to eating his ice cream and rocking Izzy's stroller back and forth.

After the guys left the girls, Phil began complaining. Both Silky and Rammer ended up getting dates with them.

"Oh Phil, be quiet. You're just jealous there wasn't a girl for you."

"No, I'm mad because you guys were lying to them."

"Like you've never lied to a girl before, Phil," Silky said.

"Well, I never said I had a daughter."

"He does have a point, Silky. What if Meg asks you to bring her when you go out?"

"She already asked me, and I already took care of it," Silky said. "I'm just going to watch her again."

"Yeah, if that works," Phil whispered to Rammer.

"Hey guys," Silky started. "Jack and Maddie don't find out about this, okay."

"Of course not," Rammer responded.

"Whatever," said Phil.

"If you keep your mouth shut, I won't tell them you gave Izzy ice cream."

"All right, fine," Phil said.

A/N: Okay, so now that you're done reading, you should go review! )


	30. Chapter 30

Jenny: Glad you liked it. Yeah, Phil didn't get a date, but I promise that eventually he won't be the one left out, lol. (You're gonna have to wait until the next story though, lol.) Thanks for the review.

Meadow567: Yeah, I just had to put that in there, lol. Typical guys. Thanks for the review!

A/N: Hope everyone enjoys the chapter!

Chapter 30

February 15, 1980

The team had a game that night against Czechoslovakia. Luckily, they were all more prepared than the previous game and they ended winning 7-3. After the game, the guys were in the locker room, very happy about their win. They were all talking and Rammer brought up the point that Izzy was at the game.

"Yeah, it's almost like she's our little mascot," said Mark, agreeing with Rammer.

"We should get her a mini jersey," Jimmy suggested.

"So now she's our mascot and a chick magnet?" asked Buzz. Silky hit him and pointed to Jack, not wanting him to hear. Most of the team already knew about Meg and Shannon, but Jack didn't and Silky wanted to keep it that way. It was too late though. Jack has heard and looked up.

"Excuse me?" Jack said, raising his eyebrows. "What the hell have you been doing with my daughter, Silky?"

"Sure, blame me," he said.

"Well, it was you, wasn't it. I mean, it's a pretty good guess."

"I wasn't doing anything with your daughter per say . . . but I am going to need to babysit her again tomorrow night."

"Why?" Jack asked, and Silky gave in and explained the situation. When he was done, Jack just looked at him for a minute in disbelief.

"Are you serious?" Jack finally asked.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't know what else to say. They were really hot."

"Yeah, they were," added Rammer.

"It's fine. I don't care."

"You don't?" Silky asked, knowing there had to be more to it then Jack just not caring.

"No. I mean, there's going to be a funny to ending to the story. What will happen when they find out the truth?" Silky looked at Jack like that would never happen.

"Silky, come on. Do you really think you can keep it up? Eventually the girls will find out, and you'll have a lot to explain to them."

"And how will they find out. If everyone keeps their mouths shut," Silky said, looking around the locker room.

"Whatever you say," Jack said.

The next night, Jack wanted to take Maddie out and leave Izzy with the guys. Jack had agreed to let Silky watch the baby again, but this was the last time. Supposedly, he was going out with one of the girls and she had wanted Silky to bring his 'daughter'. It took some convincing on Jack's part, because Maddie didn't want to leave Izzy again.

"Jack, if we keep leaving her with the guys, she'll forget who we are."

"No, she won't. Come on, Maddie. Two hours?"

"Jack, we can't keep leaving her. When she learns to talk, she'll end up accidentally calling someone else mommy and daddy." Jack tried not to laugh at her comment. _You have no idea, _he thought.

"Maddie, I promise, we'll leave her and go skating for two hours, and we'll be back."

"You? Going skating? I don't think so."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Jack said, knowing he couldn't skate with his knee. Even if he was able to, he knew Maddie wouldn't let him. "A walk then? And hot chocolate?"

"Why can't we take Izzy?"

"Fine. You win. We'll take Izzy on a walk another time. But I can think of a little something else we can do when she's not around." Maddie knew what he was hinting at. "And my knee will be fine. We'll be extra careful," he added, so Maddie wouldn't object on the account of his knee.

"We can also do that when she's asleep."

"Okay, fine. The truth is, the guys have a little surprise for you, and since Izzy's involved, they need to borrow her."

"Really?" Maddie asked. Jack nodded. He felt guilty for lying, but it wasn't a total lie. Maddie would find out about the whole thing eventually, and she would be surprised. "Okay, fine. I can deal with a surprise," Maddie agreed.

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February 17, 1980

Late that afternoon the guys had a game against Norway, and ended up winning again. After the game, the guys were in the locker room and Maddie came in and began looking for Jack. She found him sitting on a bench and icing his knee.

"Hey."

"Hey," he replied, without much emotion. Maddie knew he was happy about the win too, but being injured made things that much less exciting.

"You'll get to play," Maddie reassured him.

"It's taking too long. I just want to contribute, you know. I feel useless." Maddie put her arm around his shoulder.

"You're not useless. Right now, you're doing everything you can. Cheering the team on, supporting them, giving them advice. I know it's not the same, but at least you're here."

"Yeah, I guess. I just wish I never got hurt in the first place."

"I know. But if you guys keep winning, you'll have the medal round to play in."

"Hopefully. That's if coach lets me." Just then, Rizzo came over and interrupted.

"How about going for some ice cream to celebrate the win?"

"All right," Maddie said.

"I think I'll just go back to my room," Jack said. "I can take Izzy with me," he said to Maddie.

"Are you sure, OC?" Rizzo asked.

"Yeah. I'm not really in the mood for ice cream."

"But we just won. You have to come."

"I'm happy about the win, but I'm just . . . " Jack trailed off.

"Okay," said Rizzo, understanding, and walked away.

"Come on, Jack. Come for ice cream. It'll make you feel better," Maddie said.

"I don't feel like it. Going out, walking around . . . it's such a hassle with these things," Jack said, motioning to his crutches.

"Come on. Getting out will make you feel better. I promise. Plus, moving around will help your leg. Even ask Doc if you don't believe me."

"Okay, fine. I'll go," Jack said giving in. He knew Maddie was right about moving around to make his knee heal faster. Maddie gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

"By the way . . . when am I getting that surprise?"

"Soon. Real soon," Jack said.

"Oooh, a surprise," said Bah walking past them. "Sounds interesting."

"Yeah, doesn't it?" Maddie said. "Especially when most people know what it is already." Bah looked at them sort of funny but got a look back from Jack that told him not to say anything.

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Once everyone had arrived at the ice cream parlor, the guys began ordering. Maddie ordered Jack's too, because he was sitting at the table with Izzy. When the cashier only handed Maddie two cones, Bah wondered where the third was.

"Aren't you getting Izzy any?" he asked.

"Babies can't have ice cream," Rizzo said, who was standing nearby.

"Can she at least have a taste of mine?" Mac then asked, walking over to them.

"No," said Maddie, starting to walk to the table.

"Why not?" Mac asked, following. "Only a little taste?"

"No. Izzy can't have ice cream. Wait until she's at least six months old, and I'll let you give her some."

"Well, if she had some, it wouldn't be the first time," Silky said, half under his breath.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Maddie asked, having heard him.

"He didn't mean anything Maddie," Phil said, giving Silky a glare. Maddie gave them both a weird look but let it go. A little later, once everyone was almost done, the topic of Izzy eating ice cream came up again.

"Well she has tired it before," Rammer said accidentally. "Phil let her try a little the other day."

"What?!" Maddie asked shocked, now glaring at Phil. Rammer immediately tried to cover his slip up, but it didn't work.

"I mean . . . uh . . . shit," he said, not knowing what else to say.

"Phil! You gave her ice cream?" Maddie said. _How could he be so stupid? _she thought. _Wait, what am I thinking_? _It's Phil, of course he'd do something that stupid. _

"Sorry," he said, not really knowing how to explain. He didn't want Maddie to be mad at him either. "I just . . . " Phil started again. "Silky said he was her dad," he finished, telling Maddie only because he knew Maddie would be more mad about that then ice cream. He was right.

"What!?" Maddie said looking at Silky. The rest of the guys all just continued eating their ice cream, listening to what was happening, and intently watching them, as if they were watching a really good movie.

"Thanks, Phil," Silky said, sarcastically.

"Well, Rammer told on me."

"So you decided to tell on me?"

"Why did you say Izzy's your daughter?" Maddie asked, still wondering what exactly went on when she wasn't around.

"So does this mean Phil's off the hook?" Silky asked.

"Yes. What you did is way worse."

"But he gave Izzy ice cream!"

"Yeah, but it's not like there was permanent damage."

"And me telling a little white lie caused permanent damage?"

"Uh, yeah. After all, you said you were her father. That's repulsive! Unless of course, someone else was her mother." The guys all laughed at Maddie's comment. "I bet Jack wont be happy either. Right honey?" When Jack didn't really answer her, Maddie knew that she was most likely the only one that didn't know. "You knew?!"

"Yeah. Silky let it slip earlier," Jack explained.

"How much earlier?" Maddie asked.

"Uh . . . "

"Two days," Silky said.

"I can't believe you knew for two days!" Maddie said, looking at Jack, her eyes wide.

"Sorry," he said. Maddie then looked at the rest of the team, who were still silently watching.

"I'm glad you all find this really entertaining," she said with sarcasm.

"Yeah, and the best part is, compared to popcorn and a movie, this is dirt cheap," Mac said. Maddie smacked him.

"Ow," he said, grabbing his arm where Maddie hit him.

"Baby," Maddie said. "Well, someone has some explaining to do," she said, looking at Silky. "What did you do with my baby the other day?"

"It wasn't just me. Rammer and Phil were there too."

"Yes, but somehow I have the feeling that you were primarily involved in this little scheme."

"You might be right," Silky said, with a smile, not seeing the point of lying.

"Well start talking then." Once Silky finished his story for what seemed like the millionth time, Maddie was still shocked.

"I can't believe you were using my daughter to pick up girls. Why don't you just take my advice and be nice gentlemen to them," she said, now speaking to everyone there. "Then you'd have no problem."

"Maddie, gentlemen? Look who you're talking to," Buzz said.

"Buzz has a point. I'm not a gentleman by any stretch of the imagination," Silky said. After they finished their ice cream, Jack, Maddie, and Izzy walked back to the hotel, and Jack tried to make sure Maddie wasn't mad at him.

"Are you sure you're not mad?"

"No, Jack."

"Positive?"

"Jack, if you ask me one more time, I will be mad, but not about that."

"Okay, sorry. I just wanted to make sure though."

"The situation is actually pretty funny."

"Really?"

"I guess." Jack nodded, happy to hear that. "That doesn't mean I condone this to happen again. If the guys ever pass our daughter off as their own, they'll be dead. It's funny once, but after this time, it won't be so funny. Get it?"

"Yeah," Jack said, nodding in understandment.

"So either Silky's better with Izzy than we thought, or the girl must have not known much about babies herself," Maddie said with a laugh. "Did Uncle Silky take good care of you at least," Maddie asked, looking down at Izzy in the stroller. She smiled in response to Maddie's smile. "I love you, Izzy," Maddie said, kissing her on the nose.

"Hey, where's the love?" Jack said, pretending to feel neglected. Maddie turned to Jack and kissed him too.

A/N: Hope you all liked it. The story won't be done by Christmas like I thought. There are about two or three more chapters left. There should be another chapter up before Christmas, but I'm not entirely sure, because I might be quite busy this week. So hopefully I'll be updating again in a couple days, but if not, I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!


	31. Chapter 31

Xcapitalbarbie90: Thanks for the review! I love Silky, he's so funny. Even though I only made his personality based on the little bits and pieces of him in the movie, I can totally picture him doing the stuff I have him do, lol. Glad you like the story.

Emador: Haha, Phil. Gotta love him. And yeah, it probably could mess up the kid. It would mess up the relationship even more though if the kid wasn't yours, lol. Thanks for both of the reviews!

Jenny: Yeah, Silk's funny, lol. And he's not at all a gentleman. : ) Thanks for the review!

justlikewedo: Thanks! Glad you liked them. It's so nice to be on break now. I love it! Hope you like this chapter too.

Meadow567: Yeah, that would have been funny. I didn't even think about it, lol. Thanks for the review.

Nelliebly413672: Oh I know, don't you hate that. It's like, okay why don't you keep talking in your own conversation, lol.

A/N: Here's a little Christmas present for you guys because of all of the amazing reviews I got last chapter. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! Thanks again for all of the reviews!!

Chapter 31

February 20, 1980

That afternoon the guys had their last game in the qualifying round against West Germany and won, and they had beaten Romania two nights before. No official announcements were being made until the next morning, so the guys didn't know who they were playing next. After the game, most of the guys stuck around to see the outcome of the Czech versus Sweden game. If Sweden won, they US team would be second in their division and play the Soviets first, but if Sweden lost, the guys would most likely play Finland first. In the locker room, they began arguing over the standings and who would play who in the medal round. Maddie thought it was pretty amusing to watch, because it didn't matter either way. It wasn't like the guys could do anything about it. Soon, the locker room was very loud, due to the guys trying to yell over one another.

"Guys!" Maddie said in an attempt to yell over everyone's voices. "What's with all the arguing?" Immediately, they all tried to answer at once, causing them to yell and argue even more. "I give up," said Maddie, now walking out of the locker room with her daughter. She ran into Doc and Craig on the way out.

"What's going on in there?" Craig asked.

"They're just voicing their opinions about the next games," Maddie said, trying to put it lightly. Doc smiled, knowing very well that Maddie meant the guys were full out arguing.

"It sounds like they're a little on edge," Doc said.

"You can say that again. They all need to calm down and think about other things."

"Yeah, the more stressed they get over this, they'll end up going crazy," Craig said, agreeing.

"Are you kidding? The more stressed they get, they'll make me go crazy. I wish they would just realize that the outcome won't change if they talk about it or not."

"We'll go in and see what we can do," Craig said, referring to himself and Doc. While Maddie waited for Jack, she walked around with Izzy. About ten minutes later she went back to the locker room to find Jack, Mac, Rizzo, Silky, and Buzz looking at a sheet posted on the wall. It had the standings so far and the games that were being played later that day.

"See," Mac said. "In order to play the Soviets in the finals, and not tomorrow, Sweden needs to lose today."

"Okay, I guess you're right, but Finland also has to beat the Netherlands," Buzz said.

"What are you talking about?" Jack said. "That game had nothing to do with anything."

"Yeah, it determines who else makes it to the medal round besides the Soviets," said Silky.

"Yeah, right now, it's either Canada or Finland."

"But the soviets are still in first, so it really doesn't matter," said Jack. "The only thing that matters is whether we're first in our division or second. If Sweden wins, we'll be in second."

"How's that? We'll have the same points," said Silky.

"They have a better goal differential," said Mac. Maddie, who had been watching the guys from a distance decided to interrupt.

"But of course, if Canada wins today, it'll throw everything off," she said.

"Hey Maddie," said Jack.

"Canada won't win though," said Silky.

"Why not?" Maddie asked.

"They're playing the Soviets," said Buzz.

"And?" Maddie said.

"Come on, Maddie. It'll be a cold day in hell if Canada wins," said Jack. "You know that as well as I do." The guys all nodded in agreement, but Maddie wasn't as convinced as them.

"So you're telling me that Canada has no chance in beating the Soviets, but you guys do?" No one answered, but they all began thinking about what she said. None of the guys thought of it like that. If they planned on beating the Soviets, anyone could.

"I gotta give you credit Maddie. You made a pretty good point there," said Silky.

"You're still not off the hook," Maddie said.

"I really mean it Maddie."

"Guys, think about it," Jack said, interrupting Silky and Maddie. "We've worked really hard the last seven months. I don't think any other team wants to beat the Soviets as much as we do. And no one wants to win more than Coach. I don't think any other team will beat them before we do."

"Yeah, Canada won't win today. Besides, I heard right now they're down by two," Mac said.

"They just tied it up," Maddie said, having heard the recent score update just minutes before."

"Seriously?" Rizzo asked.

"Well, whatever happens, I just hope we play the Soviets last," said Silky.

"Do you guys want to wait around for the end of the Sweden and Czech game?" Jack asked.

All of the guys agreed to stay, but Maddie went back to her room with Izzy. She didn't feel like staying there and waiting. She would rather not worry about it anymore right then. On her way back she ran into her dad, who had been walking around the town.

"Hi dad."

"Hi Maddie, and Isabelle," he said bending down to the baby's level. "Any word on when Jack's going to be able to play?"

"No. Hopefully Friday though. Doc's going to see how things are then. He is feeling a lot better though."

"Good. I hope for his sake he gets to play."

"Me too. Right now, he's really frustrated not being able to play. He has gotten better though, but right now, the guys are all really stressed about playing the Russians. They're arguing and fighting, and it's not for any other reason than they're really nervous."

"I can imagine," Maddie's dad said in response. "What are you and Jack doing for breakfast tomorrow?"

"Well, I'm not doing anything. Jack isn't either, unless he's patiently awaiting the announcement for the medal round games," Maddie said with some sarcasm and a smile.

"If he's around, why don't you guys meet us for breakfast tomorrow," he said, the 'us' referring to Maddie's family.

"Okay. I'll definitely meet you guys no matter what. I'll ask Jack later."

"Okay." Maddie and her dad talked a few more minutes, and then Izzy began crying. Maddie picked her up and tried to quiet her down.

"Shhh. It's okay," Maddie said, rubbing the baby's back. "I know, you're hungry. We'll go back to the room right now and I'll feed you." Maddie's dad watched her daughter, smiling, noticing what a great mom she made.

"I'll let you two go," Maddie's dad said. "See you later. Bye Izzy," he said, giving his granddaughter a kiss on her head.

"Bye dad."

Maddie took Izzy back to the room and fed her while she was waiting for Jack to come back. Izzy was fast asleep by the time Jack returned.

"Hey," Maddie said from the bed where she was watching tv.

"Hi," Jack said. He sat on the bed next to Maddie and sighed. "I'm exhausted."

"You better get some sleep. Before practice we're going out for breakfast with my family."

"What? You've gotta be kidding. Not tomorrow, Maddie. They're announcing the medal round games tomorrow. I have to get to the rink early."

"You won't miss out by not being the first to know what's going on. Chances are they won't even make the announcement until later in the morning."

"Well, I'm not going to breakfast with you tomorrow."

"I never said you had to."

"You're pretty much forcing me to go," Jack said, a little loud.

"Jack, I'm not forcing you. I don't really care either way. But could you please keep it down? I just got Izzy to sleep," Maddie said, getting up to get ready for bed.

"I'm not even being loud," Jack said, also getting up, and not bothering with his crutches. "Why are you trying to start something tonight? Just because I won't go to breakfast because I have more important things to do than spend quality time with your family?" Jack sort of followed Maddie around the room, taking off his shirt and grabbing pajama pants. "I don't even have time to spend with my family, let alone yours," Jack said with a slight edge, and his voice getting louder and almost to the point of yelling. Maddie was sure he was going to wake the baby up. Sure enough, Izzy began crying. She turned around and looked at Jack.

"Guess what? You just won the opportunity to get Izzy back to sleep. Good luck with that," Maddie said and then paused for a minute. "Jack, just because you're stressed out and worried doesn't mean you need to take things out on me," she said before walking away. Maddie went into the bathroom and slammed the door. It wasn't that Maddie was mad at Jack, because she knew he was going through a lot, but she wanted him to stop acting like the world revolved around him.

While Maddie was in the bathroom, Jack quickly finished getting dressed and went over to get Izzy. He picked her up and brought her back to the bed and began rocking her.

"Shhh. I'm sorry I woke you up. It's okay. Go back to sleep." Jack continued rocking her and softly talking to her. "Mommy's right. I shouldn't be acting like anything is her fault. Daddy's just very, very stressed out right now. You're lucky to be a baby and not have a worry in the world." Izzy slowly started drifting off to sleep again in Jack's arms.

Just as Jack started getting up to put Izzy back in her crib, Maddie came out of the bathroom.

"Here, I'll take her," Maddie said, taking the baby and setting her in the crib. "You should still be using your crutches by the way."

"I know, I know," Jack said as Maddie climbed into bed next to him. Jack put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer, and then kissed her temple.

"I'm sorry that I was a little on edge earlier. I'm just stressed and frustrated and excited and . . . so many other things I can't even begin to name everything right now." Maddie turned on her side to face Jack and rested her arm on his bare chest.

"Nervous," Maddie said as more of a statement than a question. Jack looked at her and his first thought was to immediately say no, but he knew Maddie could see right through him.

"Yeah. I'm scared to death actually," Jack said, running his free hand through his hair. "The sad part is, I'm scared and I might only be watching it," he said with a sigh, mixed with relief and frustration.

"Does it feel good to let it off your chest?" Maddie asked sensing relief for finally admitting fear, and frustration for being scared over possibly just watching the game.

"Yeah. I guess this is the first time I've admitted that I'm scared."

"It's okay to be scared, baby. I'm scared for you guys. But you're all thinking about the game way too much for your own good. Whatever happens, happens. Try to relax a little at least until Friday."

"Easier said than done, but I'll try."

"I love you," Maddie said with a smile.

"I love you too," Jack said before they shared a kiss.

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The next morning, Maddie met her family for breakfast and Jack went to find some of the guys. He wanted to see if an announcement had been made before he went for breakfast. It hadn't yet, so Jack tried to remember what Maddie said and not think about it. That was very hard to do when all Maddie's dad talked about at breakfast was the upcoming medal round.

Fortunately, just before the guys had practiced, they found out who their next opponent would be. They were playing the Soviets at five the next evening. Even though they all knew facing the Russians was inevitable, having it official made it that much more real. During practice, they skated just as hard, but the whole time, tomorrow's game was in the back of their mind.

Maddie could tell there was something different about the team after practice in the locker room. They were still joking around and having fun, but there was also a weird feeling in the air and everyone had the same thing hanging over them.

After the guys finished showering and changing, they had to meet their families for dinner. The entire team, including Herb, Craig, Doc, and the guys families were having a big dinner together. Maddie was excited because she was finally going to be able to meet a lot of the guys parents she had heard a lot about over the last seven months. Doc had actually set the dinner up so the guys families could all meet one another and everyone could have a nice dinner and last night before they played the Soviets.

They met in a banquet hall at a restaurant and for a while Maddie walked around to introduce herself to parents. She noticed a man who looked a lot like Bah and went over.

"You must be Mr. Harrington," she said. The man had been standing with a few other parents, presumably parents of the other Minnesota guys.

"Yes, and I'm guessing you're Maddie," he said, sticking out his hand. The other people introduced themselves as well, including Bah's mother, Phil's parents, and Rammer's parents.

"This must be Isabelle," said Bah's mother, looking at Izzy.

"Yes it is."

"She's beautiful. We heard a lot about this little one." Maddie smiled.

"Maddie!" someone said from behind her. Maddie turned around to see Mrs. Eruzione.

"How are you?" Maddie asked, giving her a hug. She had met Rizzo's mom a few years prior, just after she met Jack and Rizzo. Rizzo invited some guys from the team, including Maddie and her roommate over for dinner. His mom also made famous meatballs, though hers were more edible.

"I'm good. And how are you? I heard all about the baby, and I've been dying to meet her myself." Mrs. Eruzione looked at the baby, and Maddie then let her hold Izzy.

"She's so precious. I can't wait until Mike meets a girl. I want a granddaughter."

"I'm sure he'll meet someone soon enough."

"Are there any prospects?" Mrs. Eruzione asked. Maddie laughed. Almost everytime she talked to Rizzo's mom, she asked about his love life.

"Are you bothering Maddie for gossip on Mike again?" Mr. Eruzione asked, walking up behind his wife.

"I'm just wondering," she said, innocently.

"Well, I know he met someone, and Jack thought she seemed nice, but I haven't met her."

"Is she here?"

"No, she's actually from Minnesota, but I think they're still sort of together."

"What's her name?" Mrs. Eruzione asked with her eyes lit up, clearly interested.

"Kelly." Rizzo's mom nodded.

"That's enough now," Rizzo's dad said. "Give Maddie her baby back so she can go meet other people and tell other mom's all about their son's behavior," he said, jokingly. Mrs. Eruzione handed Maddie the baby back and said she'd see Maddie later.

Maddie chatted with a few other parents and some of the guys until dinner was ready. She even noticed Herb laughing and having a good time talking with the guys parents. Maddie was glad everyone was having a good time before tomorrow.

"So Maddie, have you been taking care of all of the boys?" Phil's mother asked.

"Mom," Phil said, standing next to his mother and rolling his eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes at your mother," Maddie said, joking. "They might get stuck that way," she joked, in order to prove the point that she kept the guys in line. Phil's mother picked up on it and laughed.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Maddie was talking to a group of guys and just before she sat down for dinner, she had to find Jack. A little while before she saw him, but since then she hadn't. He took Izzy to show her off to some parents just after Maddie saw Rizzo's mother.

"Well, I'll see you guys later. Make sure you eat lots of spaghetti," Maddie said. "And no alcohol."

The guys all nodded and answered "yeah," in tones that said they already knew that. It wasn't the first time Maddie had reminded them about eating spaghetti the night before a big game. Maddie walked around to find Jack, and very surprisingly, he was sitting with Mac, Laura, Mac's parents and his parents. _What an odd combination, _Maddie thought. _Especially with their history._

Maddie walked over and sat down, at the space Jack saved for her.

"Hi," she said, greeting everyone at the table. They all responded and then continued with their conversations. Mac and Jack's parents were getting along really well.

"This is interesting," Maddie said to the two guys.

"Yeah. Who would've though? I guess we're all good friends now or something," said Mac.

"I wouldn't count on it," Jack joked. "Being good friends implies that we'd go out of our way to be nice to one another. Maybe we're friends, but let's not overstate things with any extra adjectives." Both Maddie and Laura laughed.

Once everyone was done with dinner, most of the parents chatted for a little while and the guys began heading back to their rooms. Herb made a joke about the guys having a curfew, so they wouldn't be tired the next day.

"But the game's at five," said Bah quietly to Mark and Pav.

"Do you think I care?" asked Herb, who heard him. He pretended to be serious. "Be in bed by eleven, we have an early practice tomorrow. Any don't think about making anymore comments, or I'll have to get out the whip." The guys that had heard this laughed. They weren't used to seeing Herb joke around and being in this good of a mood very often. Their guess was that he was just trying to relax before the next game like they were. In less than twenty-four hours, everyone would know if the US team had what it took to beat the Soviets.

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed . . . now go review! lol Next chapter will be the big game! Again, I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas (or whatever you celebrate) and Santa brings you everything you want! ; )


	32. Chapter 32

Xcapitalbarbie90: Yeah, I thought that was pretty funny. Glad you liked it and thanks for the review!

Jenny: Thank you! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas too. Glad you enjoyed the chapter and thanks for reviewing!

Meadow567: I figured I had to put something in there for comedy. I could totally see the guys arguing like that too. I also wanted to include the parents, because I would think with them going to watch the Olympics, the guys would have at least spent a little time with them. Thanks for the review!

Nelliebly413672: lol, yeah. OC can't be cocky and confident all of the time. And what person knows that better than Maddie. She is about the only person he can vent to though, because he has that tough guy, cocky reputation to protect, lol. Thanks for the review!

A/N: I hope everyone had a great Christmas and got everything they asked Santa for!! I got some really good presents, especially TV show DVDs, a subscription to the Prison Break magazine, and a Sabres jersey! The jersey was very exciting, because I wanted one soooo bad! Anyway, thanks for the reviews and enjoy this chapter! This is actually the last chapter, so the big game is in this one. I had such a hard time trying to write the emotion and everything of the game. I was watching that part of the movie while I was writing and the emotion and excitement in the movie are just so incredible, it was hard to write it in. Okay, now on with the chapter!

Chapter 32

February 22, 1980

"Morning," Maddie said to Jack when she woke up next to him that morning. He was laying on his back and staring at the ceiling.

"Today's the day," he said in response, turning to look at her.

"I know. You've been waiting seven months for this." Jack nodded. Maddie and Jack laid in silence for a few minutes, thinking, until Izzy woke up and wanted their attention. Maddie got up to get her and brought her back to the bed. She put Izzy between her and Jack and played with the baby until her and Jack had to get ready to leave for the rink. Doc was going to check his leg out before practice and he was hoping that Doc would give him the okay.

Maddie arrived at the rink just before the guys went on the ice, because she dropped Izzy off at her parents that morning. Her family was coming to the game, but they were going to hold the baby in the stands because Maddie couldn't bring her on the bench.

When Maddie walked in the locker room, she noticed Jack rummaging through his hockey bag. Just as she started walking over to him, he looked up with a smile plastered on his face. Maddie knew that was a good sign and hoped his happiness meant what she thought it did. She beamed back at him in anticipation of the good news.

"Are you?" she asked, immediately receiving a nod. "Oh my God! This is amazing!" she said running to him. Jack stood up and she jumped in his arms, hugging him. He held her in the air for a minute and kissed her.

"Doc checked my leg out and told Herb I was good to go."

"That's great, baby! I'm so happy for you."

"Well, it's not definite yet. I have to skate this morning and hopefully Herb will tell me I can play."

"I think he will. You guys need another defenseman to keep up with the Soviets." Rammer overheard this and jumped in the conversation.

"Are you saying that we're not good enough?" he asked, meaning him and the other guys on defense. Maddie knew he was only kidding, so she joked back.

"Yeah. That's exactly what I'm saying. Without Jack, you don't have a chance." Rammer laughed.

"Ya know, I actually think Izzy's more important to the team's success than Jack." Rammer turned to Jack. "No offense, buddy," he said as Jack hit him, playing along and pretending to take offense to his comment. "Speaking of Izzy, where is that little cutie?"

"Don't worry about it," Maddie said. "She'll be here."

"Good."

By ten thirty that morning, the guys were all on the ice for a morning practice. Maddie thought Herb would take it easy on them so they weren't tired out for the game later, but Herb skated them as hard as normal. Luckily, practice ended a little early and after showering everyone had time for a nice lunch and rest before the game.

Once Maddie got back to the rink, she ran into Herb almost right away.

"Is Izzy here?" He asked.

"Yeah, she's in the stands with my parents." Maddie answered, sort of wondering why it mattered.

"Okay, just making sure," he responded. Maddie began laughing, now knowing why Herb was so concerned with where the baby was.

"Are you superstitious now too?" Maddie asked.

"No," Herb answered seriously. "I'd just rather leave everything the way it is. What we've done has worked so far."

"Okay," Maddie said, knowing Herb just didn't want to admit he was as superstitious as the guys.

"Why don't you go in there with the guys for now?" Herb said, motioning to the locker room. "Make sure they are doing okay and don't need anything before the game." Maddie nodded and headed into the locker room, which she found to be unusually quiet. The guys were suiting up to play and putting their equipment on. They all really looked nervous and were talking very little compared to their normal, loud chatting. She saw Jack getting his pads on, and knew he was playing. She walked over to where he was sitting and put her arm around his shoulder, then quickly kissed the side of his face.

"Hey," he said, looking at her. "Herb's letting me play!"

"I can see that," Maddie said with a smile.

Maddie made her rounds, going over to talk to a lot of the guys. She first went over to Rizzo.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," he said, looking up at her. She could tell he was trying to hide his nerves.

"Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah, I'm great."

"You'll do great today Rizzo."

"Thanks," he said with a smile. Maddie left him and went to see Mac and Bah next.

"Hey guys."

"Hey Maddie," they both said.

"Ready for the game?"

"Yeah," Mac answered.

"I'm more ready for it to be over," Bah said, half joking.

"Well, enjoy it, because the last seven months have been getting ready for this, and chances are, you'll never be here again," Maddie said, referring to being in the Olympics.

As game time came closer, the room became progressively quieter. The guys were all sitting doing their own thing, whether it was playing with tape, or checking and rechecking their skates and pads, or closing their eyes and praying. The silence was too much for Maddie, and she left for a few minutes to walk around. Maddie went back in the locker room just before Herb came in to give a speech.

He told the guys things about this game being 'their time' and how the Soviets couldn't take this opportunity away from them. After the speech, the guys seemed more pumped to play, and their nerves seemed to die down a little. However, this was only until they got on the ice.

They all skated out with confidence as the crowd chanted 'USA'. Seeing the guys standing face to face with the Soviets again was a little unnerving, and Maddie saw mixed looks of fear and confidence on the guys faces. After the guy's performance in the last meeting between the two teams, they knew that they had a lot of work to do. It wasn't that the guys played all that badly last time, but Maddie just hoped they were more prepared today.

The puck was dropped and the game began, starting out quite well. The team was staying with the Soviets and hitting them, playing good defense and Jimmy had nice blocks on shots. The Soviets then scored off a deflection right after they visibly slashed Buzz. The guys on the bench began yelling at the refs, but no penalty was called. Maddie knew it was going to be a rough game if that kept up.

Maddie heard Herb call Jack from the bench and he had an amazing hit. Pav picked up the loose puck and passed it to Buzz who took a shot and scored. The crowd erupted and cheered as they tied the score.

As the first period wound down, seconds remained and the guys were only a goal down. Maddie hoped they would score to tie it before the period ended, but it was nearly impossible.

"Get it out!" Maddie yelled, now only hoping they could clear the puck before the end of the period. Finally, it was cleared Christian shot from center ice. Maddie turned around, knowing the period was over and was ready to head into the locker room. Just as she turned back to take one last look, she noticed the puck passing Tetriak. The guys and crowd, including Maddie cheered, and she saw that Mark had made the shot. The team rushed out onto the ice, knowing the period was over.

Between periods, the guys were happy and excited to start the next period. Even Craig and Doc were excited. No one would have thought the score would be tie after the first period. Herb was the only one that seemed to not be very excited.

"Don't get cocky. Don't get confident. Nothing is guaranteed until that buzzer goes off that ends the third period," he said before the guys left the locker room. "I want everyone to play their game. Keep in position, skate with them. Don't be happy, because you haven't won it yet." With that being said, Herb walked out of a now quiet locker room. Though the guys were happy for tying it up, they knew Herb was right. The reality was that they still had forty minutes to play, and anything could happen.

Shortly after the second period began, Jimmy was hit and landed on the ice, letting the Soviets take the lead. Maddie looked over at Doc for a sign of something on his face. She hoped Jimmy would be okay. After getting up and insisting he was fine, the game continued.

After the second period, the Soviets still had a three to two lead. The guys weren't discouraged in the locker room, but they weren't nearly as excited to begin the last period. Herb seemed to notice their moods though, and attempted to change the atmosphere. He said to keep skating and make them work to keep up. Maddie thought Herb was saying these things because he wanted to keep the guys confident that they could win. Just before taking the ice, Herb reminded them that they made a comeback every other game in the tournament so far.

The guys took the ice, doing everything they could to score quickly. Maddie could see the passion and desire in their eyes as they played. Almost right away, the guys went on the power play and with four seconds left, Mark scored. The guys cleared the bench again and congratulated him.

Everyone constantly yelled words of encouragement to the guys on the ice. Herb told Rizzo to go in and he got a pass from Pav. Rizzo made a shot to the top left corner and it went right passed the goalie. Maddie watched and cheered as the guys celebrated gaining the lead. She noticed that even Herb looked thrilled. They were finally ahead of the Soviets and only ten minutes remained.

"Come on guys. Keep it up!" Maddie yelled just after the faceoff. The whole arena, except for the Soviet bench, seemed almost completely in awe and disbelief of the newly gained lead. Herb kept shouting for the guys to play their game. Although the entire game hadn't been quiet since before the game began, it was even louder now.

Maddie could barely watch. She was way too nervous and the Soviets kept taking hard shots. Every couple seconds she would look away, or look up at the clock. Even the guys on the ice looked at clock every few seconds. It was almost like they were more concerned with the time remaining than the game itself.

"Play your game!" Herb shouted, reminding them that it wasn't over yet.

No one could sit still, and everyone was wishing the same thing. If only time could go faster. The crowd began the countdown and now Maddie, along with everyone on the bench, constantly watched the clock, taking quick glances at what was going on on the ice. Maddie started jumping up and down, along with the guys and joined in the count down with the crowd.

"Five, four, three, two." Maddie only made it to two, because she just started cheering instead. The buzzer sounded, and made the win official.

"We won! We won!" shouted Silky, who hugged her. Maddie didn't even know who else she was hugging, but soon the guys were running out onto the ice, surrounding Jimmy. Maddie followed the guys out, and received hugs from a few other guys. Jack skated over to her a few seconds later, just as Mac put her down. Jack picked her up and skated in a little circle, hugging her, and then kissed her before putting her down.

"We won!"

"I know!"

"Oh my God, we won!" Maddie nodded and smiled excitedly.

"Ahhh!" screamed Bah and he skated over to them. "We won!" He skated away just as quickly, going over and practically jumping on Buzz and Rizzo. Jack skated over to hug a few other guys and between hugging people, Maddie watched the guys celebrate. It was the most exciting thing she had ever witnessed. All she could hear was screaming and 'we won!' and 'yeahs!' coming from the guys. Everyone was ecstatic.

In the locker room, the guys still couldn't contain their excitement. It was almost too good to be true. They beat the Soviets, the best team in the world. _Well, they were the best team in the world, _thought Maddie. _Not anymore._

"We won, we won, we won!" Buzz said in a sing song voice.

"Where are we going to celebrate?" Phil shouted.

"Somewhere where there are a lot of chicks," said Silky. "We just beat the Soviets. That makes us irresistible."

"What happened to that Meg girl?" Maddie asked.

"Oh her. Well, let's just say we went our separate ways," said Silky.

"Ooooh. So I take it she found out about your little white lie," Maddie said.

"No. But she was going to if someone didn't accompany us on our date the other night. And since daddy has already set a curfew for his little princess . . . a curfew of seven o'clock, might I add . . . I knew Meg would find out."

"So what did you do?" Pav asked.

"I just didn't meet her."

"You stood her up!" Rammer said.

"Yeah."

"Idiot! Thanks a lot. Now Shannon will think I'm a jerk too!" Rammer commented. Maddie just laughed. The guys took forever changing that night, because they were all too excited to do anything but scream and cheer.

Maddie waited outside for them, and Laura and Gail were down by the locker room with her in a matter of minutes. Both girls ran over to Maddie and hugged her.

"We won!" said Laura. "This is so exciting!"

"Are the guys still on cloud nine?" Gail asked.

"Pretty much. They can't stop screaming and I don't think it has completely sunk in yet either," Maddie said. Just then, in perfect timing to prove Maddie's point someone yelled 'we won' from the locker room, loud enough for the three girls to hear.

The guy's parents came down to congratulate them and after an hour of meeting their families and congratulatory hugs being given, the guys were going out to celebrate. Maddie's family came down stairs too, and her father even hugged Jack.

"Congratulations," he said. "I'm glad I got to see my future son-in-law play."

"Thanks," Jack said.

"Maddie, we're going out with Jack's family, Jimmy's dad, and a few other parents. We'll take Izzy with us if you want."

"That's okay. I can take her now."

"Well, we want you to be able to have some fun celebrating."

Just then, Bah walked over to Maddie's mom, who was holding the baby, and took Izzy from her. He gave her a kiss. "Our little good luck charm worked again!"

"This baby never fails," said Pav, rubbing her head softly.

"If you could drink, I'd buy you a beer or something," said Silky. Silky then put his arm around Maddie. "You are letting her come out with us tonight, right?"

"Wow," said Maddie. First I get a hug from you, and now your arm is around me. Are you sick or something?" she asked, teasing him.

"No. But I'm genuinely happy. We just beat the Soviets. This is a night that anything can happen," Silky said with a smile. "So just don't get too used to it," he added seriously. "So is Izzy coming?"

"Yeah. I'll bring her," Maddie said, knowing the guys all wanted her to come along.

"Maybe your sister can come too," Silky told Maddie.

"You and Rachel will never, ever happen," Maddie told him sternly.

"Rachel's not for me. She's for Jimmy. I'll take Erin," Silky said, talking about Jack's sister. Somehow Maddie didn't think that would happen either. Rizzo had overheard part of Maddie and Silky's conversation, and then asked Erin and Rachel if they wanted to join the team.

"Hey Erin, Rachel. Do you two want to come with us? It'll probably be a lot more fun than hanging out with the parents." Both girls looked at their parents.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Maddie's mom said. Surprisingly, Maddie's dad thought differently.

"They'll be fine. We should let them go."

"But I'm just worried about how they'll get back to the hotel. If everyone's drinking . . . " Maddie's mom started.

"Maddie won't be," her father said. "Besides, I don't think the guys will want to get too drunk tonight. They'll never want to forget this." Maddie's mom gave in.

"Okay. As long as Erin goes too."

"Thanks mom," Rachel said.

The entire team, including the five girls and Izzy, walked along the streets, looking for a place they could go for celebrating the big win. By ten o'clock, they finally decided on a restaurant and bar, which looked pretty big from the outside. All twenty-six people went inside and began rearranging tables. A waitress came over and attempted to stop them.

"Um . . . how many of you are there. We're supposed to set up tables for big parties," she said, looking at the big group.

"We'll take care of it," said Mac.

"And we promise we'll tip well," said Phil. "After all, we just beat the Soviets."

"We're on the Olympic hockey team," Mac explained.

"Oh, really? In that case, just use as many tables as you need," the girl said, excitedly. "Congratulations."

"Thanks," said Phil.

The waitress left them for a minute to get situated and made an announcement of their presence at the bar. They all knew that they wouldn't be left alone for the rest of the night now. Most people thought of their win and the game itself as something way more than just a win in a hockey game.

The waitress came back a minute later to take their orders, and the drinks, as she explained, were on the house. They ordered several pitchers of pop and a few pitchers of beer, along with pizza and wings.

"I think Izzy deserves something special," said Silky, who was one of the only guys who had a little too much to drink. He wasn't completely wasted, but he told the guys to not let him drink anymore. Silky didn't want a bad hangover because they had practice the next day. According to him, he also wanted to remember if he got lucky, or if a girl tattooed his name on herself.

"Whatever Silky," Rammer said.

"Hey, girls love us now. As a matter of fact, we're like, national heroes. If I really wanted, I could probably get a guy to tattoo my name on himself."

"And that would be so wrong," said Maddie with a laugh.

Everyone continued celebrating and by one in the morning, almost everyone was dead tired. Some of the guys stayed a little longer, but since Izzy was sleeping, Maddie was going to leave.

"Im going back," she told Jack.

"I'll come too," he said.

"No, you stay. Have some fun."

"No that's okay. Almost everyone's leaving anyway. And I'm beat. With my remaining energy, I plan on celebrating with my fiancee," he said suggestively, and wrapped his arms around Maddie as he leaned down for a kiss.

"Please wait until you get in your room first," Erin said with a disgusted expression.

"Yeah, we really don't need to see that," added Rachel.

Mac, Laura, Buzz, Gail, Jimmy, Rizzo, and Mark all walked back then too. Mac and Laura wanted to be alone for a while, as did Gail and Buzz. Jimmy wanted every last second he could have with Rachel, and Rizzo and Mark were tired.

After they got back to their hotel room, Maddie put Izzy in the crib and watched her sleep for a few minutes, before she and Jack were going to do some celebrating of their own.

"Can you believe it?" Jack asked, walking up to Maddie, and putting his arms around her waist. He stood behind her and rested his head on her shoulder, Maddie still wrapped in his embrace.

"I think it has finally sunken in," Maddie said, turning her head a little to look at Jack.

"We actually beat the Soviets."

Maddie went back to watching Izzy sleep and after a minute of silence, Maddie spoke again.

"Can you believe how fast the last seven months has gone? It seems like just yesterday, you got on that plane for Colorado."

"I know. And look how far we've gotten in that time," Jack said while looking at their precious daughter sleeping. Both Jack and Maddie watched the baby sleep for a few more minutes.

"The past seven months sure have been incredible," Maddie said.

"Well, I wouldn't say the entire seven months. There was that somewhat lengthy amount of time that I was being a complete jerk," Jack pointed out.

"Yeah, but let's not bring that up. Everything worked out in the end. And you just beat the best team in the world. Let's focus on that," Maddie said, turning in his arms and then kissing him.

Between breaths, Jack managed to say, "I definitely agree. Let's focus on that," as he began pulling Maddie's shirt over her head.

February 24, 1980

The time finally came for the guys to play their last game at Lake Placid. Before the game, the locker room was quiet again, but not because the guys were nervous. They were almost too confident, which could have been bad. Most thought that if they beat the Soviets, no other team stood a chance against them, but Herb reminded them that it's not over until it's over, and that anything can happen. Miracles, like what some believed occurred two nights before, can let anything happen.

Therefore, the guys weren't quiet because they were nervous, although Herb tried to make them nervous, but because they knew after today, it was over. Closing ceremonies were sometime after the game ended, and they would end up parting ways. Maddie was trying to get a way to contact each of them, so she could invite them to the wedding. Most guys gave her their parents phone numbers, as many of the guys didn't exactly know where they would end up. A lot of them had offers from various NHL teams, and some had the possibility of playing out of the country.

The game ended, and the guys won, making them the official gold medalists. Everyone was happy and excited, and once they were standing on the podium, singing the national anthem, Maddie began to get a little teary eyed. She was so happy they won, but she knew she would miss each and every one of them. The Conehead's cluelessness, Phil's awful talent at getting a girl, all of their jokes and comments that made her laugh, and even fighting with Silky and hearing his often nasty comments about her.

The team went out to celebrate again, trying not to think about the Olympics being over. They still had another day together, as President Carter invited them to the White House the next day.

Maddie said her good-byes to Gail and Laura that night.

"I'm gonna miss you girls so much!" she said, hugging both of them. Maddie knew she would see Laura soon enough, but Gail was going to Switzerland, where Buzz was playing.

"I'll miss you too," Gail said. "But I'm definitely coming back for the wedding."

"Good," said Maddie. All three girls were crying and their boyfriends tried to get them to stop. None of the guys cried, but they all were feeling the same as the girls were.

"Thank you so much for being great friends," said Laura, giving both girls a hug.

"I'll miss you, Laur," said Maddie.

"Hey, girls, you'll see each other again soon," said Mac, and the girls wiped their tear stained faces.

"I know," Laura said.

The next morning, the two girls were gone and the team, including Maddie, Herb, Doc, Craig, and Izzy, got a plane for Washington. After their White House visit, everything was officially over. Leaving the White House to get on their respective planes, and go their separate ways was very hard for Maddie, as it was for the rest of the guys.

"I'll miss you," she told Bah and Pav, giving them both hugs.

"We'll miss you Maddie," said Bah. Maddie walked over to Rammer, Buzz, and Mark next.

"I'll miss you guys," she said, hugging them.

"We'll miss you too," said Rammer.

"Buzz bent down to the baby in the stroller and said, "Promise me that I'll get to see this one again before she grows up on me."

"As long as you come back from Switzerland soon," Maddie said.

"I will. Even if it's just for a couple weeks to visit."

Maddie went about hugging every one of the guys, and saw the guys doing the same. She even heard Jack saying that he'd miss Mac.

"Mac, good luck in Buffalo," Jack said, hugging him and hitting his back.

"Thanks. Good luck with the Blackhawks."

"I actually think I might miss you."

"Really?" Mac asked.

"Just a little."

"Well, I'll miss you too."

"Really?"

"No. But it sounded good," Mac said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I'll only miss fighting with you," Jack said, and Mac nodded. Jack saw Rizzo next. "Rizzo, I'll miss you. It's going to be weird not seeing you almost every day like I have for the past four years."

"I know. But you're coming to Boston soon, right?"

"Yeah. We'll be getting ready for the wedding and everything. And I know I'll need my best man's help," Jack said.

"Your best man?" Rizzo asked with a smile.

"Yeah, of course you're my best man."

"Thanks, OC." They hugged each other and then Rizzo turned to Maddie and Isabelle. The other guys were all standing nearby. Rizzo handed Maddie a small gift bag. "This is just a little something for Izzy. It's for being our mascot," Rizzo said. "It's from all of us. Even Herb went in on it."

Maddie handed Jack the baby and looked in the bag. She pulled out a mini team USA jersey. It was just Izzy's size.

"Thank you!" she said, holding up the jersey to Izzy.

"Let's put it on her," Jack suggested. He took the jersey and pulled it over Izzy's head. It fit perfectly and looked adorable on her. "Thanks guys," he said. Maddie started getting teary eyed again.

"Thank you so much," she said through the tears.

"Oh Maddie, don't cry," Bah said.

"I'm just gonna miss you all so much." Bah put his arm around her shoulder.

"Your wedding is soon enough. And we'll all be there." Maddie smiled and wiped her face.

"Good thing I didn't put eye makeup on this morning. I'd look like a racoon," Maddie said with a laugh, trying to lighten things up. "And thanks again for the jersey. I'm sure Izzy loves it."

After taking one last group picture with Izzy in her jersey, it was time for Maddie and Jack to leave for Chicago. They were heading there right away because Jack had to begin playing almost immediately. In two weeks they would be back in Boston for a few days, due to away games Jack conveniently had in Boston.

On the plane, Maddie looked out the window and watched everything get smaller as they took off. She turned to Jack who had been looking over at her. Izzy was on his lap, sitting up and making little baby noises, happily kicking her legs and moving her arms around.

"Well, we're off to Chicago," Maddie said.

"Yeah," said Jack. "I'm gonna miss being with the guys and everything, but I've still got you and we're gonna have a great life together. In Chicago, or wherever we end up."

"Yeah. We definitely will," Maddie said smiling.

"It was a pretty sweet ride, wasn't it?" Jack said referring to the last seven months.

"Yeah it was. That's for sure," Maddie agreed with a smile, knowing the journey to the Olympics and the Olympics themselves was something she would never forget.

A/N: Okay, so this is sad. My story is officially over. I'm really going to miss writing it. I had so much fun writing the story, and I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who reviewed and kept me writing. I can't believe that I finally finished posting the story because when I first got the idea to write it, I didn't think it was possible. Thank you again to anyone who read the story and especially to anyone who reviewed. Nelliebly413672, meadow567, Emador, flowersc781, Jenny, miracle fan 9245, lien-wan, krazisoapluvnreject, xcapitalbarbie90, surfer-kel, and justlikewedo - I loved posting new chapters, because I couldn't wait to see what you guys had to say!

Also, I want to especially thank meadow 567, Emador, and nelliebly413672 for reviewing if not every chapter, than almost every chapter from the beginning. Also, nelliebly413672 thank you not only for the reviews, but for all the help you gave me with the story with ideas and stuff. You're also the main reason I posted this in the first place, because of your story and talking to you, so thank you!

Okay, I'm done now, that was a really long A/N, but thanks again and I'm sorry if I forgot anyone, you can yell at me when I post the next story, lol.

Speaking of which, my new story should be up in a few weeks or so. I don't have a title yet, so I can't tell you guys what to look out for, but it's Mac and Laura, like I said. The story's taking a lot of planning because it has to coincide with a lot of things that happened in this story, but I'm hoping to have it up by the end of January or beginning of February.


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